Breath of Silver, Heart of Gold
by moira2
Summary: Aang confronts his fear of firebending, but he's not going to do it alone. A multichaptered AangKatara fic.
1. Chapter 1

_Er, hello. My name is Moira and this is actually my second work of fan fiction and…and I have reason to believe that, after realizing that I've come up with a second fic without having updated my first fic, people will be out to kill me. Specifically, people from the Fruits Basket section (i'msorryi'msorryi'msorry!). In which case, excuse me for a minute while I contact my lawyer so I can write my last will and testament._

_In any case, I'd like to thank you for checking this fic out. It's a multi-chaptered story, but it is in no way as complicated and long-winded as my first fic. (Thank the gods.) Some stuff about this fic, though:_

_1. It's not an AU, meaning it takes place in canon-universe, although I'm pretty sure when the later episodes come out the story and its plot will have to be classified as AU._

_2. I've only watched up to Book 2:04 (The Swamp), so the story will contain hints and spoilers to the previous chapters. Be forewarned._

_3. It is shamelessly Aang-Katara. I mean, it's so heavily slanted toward Aang-Katara that the two of them could probably go penguin-sledding on it. I love the dynamics between these two, and not the least because the tension between them is right there on screen for anyone to see. Still, this is only my preference and not to be taken as gospel, unlikely as that might be._

_4. I'll be putting in extra characters, some of whom will be playing major roles, and I'm going to do my best to at least keep my OCs interesting. _

_5. There are dark, violent parts, parts where pain and injury are inflicted upon others. Be forewarned._

_(Note to would-be Furuba assassins: Yes! Yes! I'm working on it, I swear! I still love my first fic and I'm not yet giving it up. This is just a break, a break!)_

**_Disclaimer: If I owned "Avatar: The Last Airbender," I would be living the good life on the profits instead of sitting in a dingy office and scratching out fics on the sly. Sadly, I don't, so there._  
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**BREATH OF SILVER, HEART OF GOLD**

I

Darkness. A steady roaring filled his ears and the smell of smoke stung his nostrils, choking him with every breath he drew. Fear began to hum through him as the air around him grew hot, unbearably hot, as though he had been dropped into the heart of an invisible inferno. Every instinct urged him to flee but his body refused to obey, and he could only drift helplessly within the burning darkness.

_What's going on? What's happening to me?_

The darkness broke, crumbling into a million black flecks that wafted through the air like tainted snow. Released from the darkness, he lifted his hand to catch one of the flecks, which crumbled even further, smearing blackness across his palm. The roaring had grown louder, mingled now with the sound of distant screams. The world came into focus, and he found himself standing on one side of a wide hall with rows of pillars on each side. Many of the pillars were cracked or split, and the polished floor was marred by holes and fragments of splintered wood and bits of weaponry. Fires burned everywhere, and through the jagged hole where the ceiling and one wall used to be, he could see the night sky lit up by flames, blazing red-gold against the plumes of black smoke. With rising dread he turned toward the two figures standing in the middle of the hall, one of them looming tall and menacing, immersed in shadow despite the ring of fire surrounding him, the other crouched in a battle stance with one leg extended and staff held ready, saffron clothes already sporting several scorch marks, looking small and frail despite the expression of desperate determination on his face.

_It's the Fire Lord_, he realized with a chill. _And—and me!_

The two figures exchanged words, but he couldn't hear them. Still, he could guess what they were saying, as he saw his other self shout his reply, tightening his grip around the staff until his hand shone white. Then the two moved, launching themselves at each other. Twisting streams of fire raced across the room like snakes while his other self dodged desperately, deflecting as much of the flames as he could with gusts of wind and trying to get as close to the Fire Lord as he could. Whenever he got within striking distance, however, the Fire Lord would unleash rings of lightning that would fling him back against a pillar or send him crashing to the floor. He spun twister after twister with his staff to cut through the fire and lightning, but the lines of burning red-gold and brilliant blue-white wove past the gales like living things, and he could only do what many others had derisively predicted before: duck and evade.

He watched, frozen to his spot, as the two battled it out, but it was painfully obvious how the fight would go. Then, to his horror, a voice rang out loud and clear, cutting through the dull roaring of the flames.

"Aang!"

He spun around, eyes going wide, as a familiar figure appeared beside him. His heart wrenched when he saw the rips in her blue robes and the ragged wound on one arm that she hadn't had a chance to heal yet. Her gaze swept across the hall, and the expression on her beautiful, soot-stained face shifted from realization to dismay to fierce resolve.

_Katara_, he breathed. _Katara, get away from here! You shouldn't be here!_ From the corner of his eye he could see his other self mouthing the same words, his face drawn with fear.

"No," she answered, steel ringing in every word. "I won't let you face this alone."

_No, Katara!_ he cried, reaching out to catch her as she ran past him, only to have his hand pass right through her like mist. She didn't get far, though. In the blink of an eye, the Fire Lord was behind her, bringing a hand up. She whirled around, an ice shield in front of her, but the blast of fire hit the ice dead-on, causing the water to evaporate almost instantly. Before either she or his other self could move, the Fire Lord had grabbed her and twisted her arm behind her. There was an audible crack and she screamed, before the Fire Lord lifted her and flung her against a pillar. She fell to the floor, unmoving, and with the lash of a lightning bolt the pillar collapsed, burying her in wood and rubble.

_No!_ He ran with treacle slowness toward her, dimly aware that his cry had been echoed by his other self, who had fallen to his knees in despair. Light suddenly filled the room, flaring into such blinding intensity that even the fires seemed dark in comparison. He stopped and turned, recognizing the light and the immense surge of power, and sure enough, his other self had risen several feet in the air, borne upon a pillar of air. Light poured out from the glaring eyes and the arrow-shaped tattoos, and even knowing that this was a dream, that it was his own face he was looking at, he found himself shrinking away from the raging incarnation before him.

The Fire Lord attacked, releasing fireball after fireball, lightning bolt after lightning bolt, but all met the spinning tornado surrounding his other self and were either brushed aside or pulled into the sparking gale the Avatar controlled with ridiculous ease. Then the Avatar moved, and the earth trembled beneath the castle's foundations so that the room shook and listed this way and that. He moved again, and the wind swept through the hall, throwing the Fire Lord against a wall and sending the remaining pillars toppling over him. He moved again, and fire erupted in a blazing fountain, exploding outwards in chaotic spirals. Again, and the stones in the walls shook themselves free and flew through air, crushing everything in their paths. The destruction was savage and mindless, fueled by rage and pain and the all-consuming desire for vengeance.

_No, stop_, he whispered as the Avatar laid siege to the elements themselves. _Please stop_, he said again as the images shifted. He could see it all, see the buildings crumbling, the ships tossed about by the waves, the frightened faces of soldiers and citizens alike wondering what Armageddon had been unleashed. _Stop!_ he cried, tears streaming down his face. _Stop this! You're destroying everything! Stop it right now!_

"Stop, please." He turned at whispered words, and was overjoyed to see Katara trying to pull herself out of the rubble, her face white with agony. She managed to get herself halfway out before falling back down, and she lifted her face toward the Avatar, her ice-blue eyes filled with worry and fear.

"It's over, Aang. You've won. Come back to me, please." She reached a hand out toward him imploringly, then froze. "Aang?"

He had been watching her, drinking in the sight of her, but at the sudden look of confusion and disbelief on her face, he turned to see the Avatar raising an arm toward her, the glowing eyes empty and cold. His own eyes widened. _No…_ The air became electric as the Avatar drew in his power. _No, no, please, no, stop… _The hand closed into a fist, and fire shot from the outstretched arm toward the terrified girl.

_NOOO!_

o – o – o – o – o

Aang sat up with a gasp, throwing the blanket off him. It took a few moments for him to realize that what he was looking at was not a stream of fire rushing past him but the dying embers from their campfire. He took a shuddering breath and glanced around to get his bearings. There was Appa behind him, the bison's warm fur doubling as pallet; Momo curled up near the fire; Sokka snoring upon his sleeping bag; and Katara...

He gazed down at her sleeping face, watching the faint glow from the campfire play upon her features, illuminating the smooth cheeks, the small nose, the perfectly shaped lips. She had combed her hair out for the night but had been too tired to braid it up again before falling asleep, and the dark tresses now lay across her sleeping furs, soft and inviting. She murmured unintelligibly, a frown flitting across her face, before turning over onto her side to face him. A dark lock fell across her cheek and he reached out to brush it away, but drew back when he realized that his hand was shaking. "Katara," he whispered, not sure if he was trying to wake her or soothe her back to sleep.

"Bean curd puffs…coming at me…" Sokka muttered, then he smacked his lips and turned over. Aang closed his eyes and sighed before air-lifting himself upright. He stoked the fire and fed it a few more sticks, then glanced over at Katara and sighed again. With the afterimages of the dream still dancing in his head, he didn't think he'd be dropping off anytime soon, but that wasn't any reason for Katara or anyone else to lose much-needed sleep.

Another lip-flapping snore cut through his musings, and he smiled wryly. _Not that Sokka has any trouble sleeping._

He stood up and walked off, deciding to head toward the stream. Traveling for nearly two days straight had taken its toll, both on their supplies and their tempers, and when Katara had spotted the gleaming ribbon of water beneath the forest cover, there had been no protests over Aang's suggestion to camp out in the nearby clearing. Sokka had immediately dragged out his fishing rod, determined to dine on something more substantial than "rodent food" before malnutrition forced his body to stop growing or worse, reversed the process altogether. When Aang pointed out that _he_ seemed to be doing fine on a meatless diet, Sokka smirked and said, "My point exactly."

They spent a peaceful afternoon beside the stream, with Appa and Momo foraging in the forest and Sokka lounging atop a flat rock with his fishing rod and dozing. Aang and Katara practiced waterbending in the stream, and although she cheerfully congratulated him on his progress, it did little to ease the ever-increasing pressure upon him to learn as much as he could as fast as he could. He smiled though and thanked her, because voicing out his worries would only make _her_ worry, and he hated seeing her all serious and troubled; she didn't smile half as much as he thought she ought to, to begin with. And she was beautiful when she smiled, her eyes lighting up like a clear summer sunrise. Just the sight of it was enough to take his breath away.

He plopped down upon the rock beside the stream, listening to the quiet rush of water and the faint chirrups of the night creatures. The air was cool and smelled of water, sap and wet soil, and he took deep breaths, trying to clear his mind of the disturbing images. The emotions caught up with him, however, and instead he found himself hunching over, his eyes burning and his hands clenched into fists, struggling to keep his sobs from escaping. "I can't do this," he whispered through gritted teeth. "I'm not strong enough…I _can't_—"

"Aang?"

A warm hand touched his shoulder and he straightened, looking up into ice-blue eyes in a face framed by flowing dark hair. _She's worried again_, he thought, and summoned up a smile for her. "Hey, Katara. I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

She shook her head and sat beside him. "Another nightmare?" she asked softly.

"Yeah." This time, she didn't ask if he wanted to talk about it, but her offer to listen was there in the tilt of her head and in the gentle understanding in her gaze. He kept his eyes fixed on the dark silhouette of the treetops, certain that if he looked at her now, she would see right into his soul. "I was fighting the Fire Lord, and I went into the Avatar state," he said haltingly. "I beat him, but then I ended up destroying _everything_."

He lowered his head, feeling oddly exposed and embarrassed. Her arms came around him, pulling him closer so that his head rested in the crook of her shoulder, and he closed his eyes, breathing in her scent, letting her warmth envelope him until the lingering tension drained away from his body. He marveled at how her simple touch had more power than all her waterbending skills, and wondered if she somehow knew it.

"It's okay to be afraid, Aang," she murmured, pressing her cheek against his head. "It doesn't mean you can't be strong in spite of it, and it doesn't make you any less worthy of being an Avatar. It just makes you human, that's all."

"But, Katara, I couldn't control it!" He pulled away from her, his anguished eyes meeting hers. "I—I couldn't stop the Avatar spirit. I could feel how angry it was, but it was like there was nothing left for it in this world _but_ anger, and I ended up—" —_killing you_. The words choked him as his mind was filled with the image of Katara, bloodied and broken and begging him to stop. Strangely enough, it scared him more now, knowing that the real Katara was right here in front of him, still safe and still alive. "I've got to try harder," he stated resolutely, staring down into the water. "I've got to master waterbending and earthbending, and I've got to practice until I'm strong enough to beat the Fire Lord as myself, without having to call up the Avatar spirit. If I don't, and I end up going into the Avatar state like that, I could be a greater danger to all of you than the Fire Lord himself." He looked up at her hopefully. "You'll help me, won't you, Katara?"

"Silly," she replied lightly. "Of course, I will, Aang. Sokka, Appa, Momo and I will be with you every step of the way." She bit her lip, looking as though she was considering her next words. "I notice you didn't mention firebending, though," she finally said.

A steely glint entered his eyes. "No firebending."

"Aang, you'll have to learn firebending some time. It's part of your training as the Avatar," she pointed out reasonably.

"No. No firebending," he repeated stubbornly. "Jeong-Jeong was right. Fire can only consume and destroy. It's too dangerous." He shut his mind against the memory of the dream-Avatar raising his hand toward Katara and summoning the flame. "I already hurt you, Katara," he added softly. "I'm not taking any more chances of hurting anyone else I care for. Besides, if I can use waterbending and earthbending as well as I do airbending, then I could probably be strong enough to take on the Fire Lord without having to use firebending."

Instead of answering, she took his hands and placed them upon his lap, palms up. Then she laid her own hands on top of his, also palms up and her fingers open. The softness of her skin and the sight of their joined hands caused his pulse to jump. "Look, Aang," she said quietly. "Look at my hands. No scars. Yes, you hurt me—" she carefully ignored his guilty wince, "—but I know you didn't mean to, and I've already forgiven you for it. And because it happened, I discovered another aspect of my waterbending abilities, so it worked out okay in the end." She turned her hands so that they covered his, palm to palm, and he found himself drowning in her soft blue gaze. "I can't teach you firebending, Aang, but I _can_ help you deal with this block you have against it, if you'll let me. There's no reason why something that happened in the past should keep you from reaching your full potential."

"Katara, I—" He trailed off, torn between wanting to do what she asked him to and wanting to protect her. The memory of his ill-fated attempt at firebending, along with the remnants of his dream, kept intruding, however, and he finally settled on expelling a deep breath and closing his fingers around her hands. "Okay. I'll think about it," he said, smiling at her reassuringly while at the same time promising nothing.

The upward tilt of the corner of her mouth told him that she was aware of his deliberate vagueness. His smile widened to a cheeky grin, and she laughed and shook her head. They remained that way for several moments, staring at each other with his hands clasping hers. Something seemed to pass between them, and before he realized what he was doing, he released his hold on one of her hands and reached up to push a lock of her hair behind her ear. Her cheeks grew warm beneath his fingertips and she blinked at him, her eyes filling with confusion and…something else. Awareness crashed into him with jolting suddenness and he snatched his hands back as though she had burned him. Floundering in embarrassment, he ended up blurting out the first thought in his head. "I—I'm sorry, Katara! I was just thinking you look really pretty with your hair down, that's all. N-not that you don't look pretty with your hair the way it usually is, of course," he added hastily, waving his hands in front of him. "I—I mean, you could probably be bald and tattooed like me and you'd _still_ look pretty."

Her head had lowered as soon he pulled away, but she looked up in surprise at his stream of nonsense and at his mortified expression when he realized what exactly he'd said. "Thanks, Aang," she said, laughing again. "No offence, though, but I really don't want to know how I'd look bald and tattooed like you."

"Sokka probably would," he pointed out, feeling intensely grateful that the awkwardness between them had passed.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, I've seen Sokka in a dress and wearing make-up, so he'd probably enjoy a little payback."

"What about Zuko's hairstyle, then?" he suggested jokingly. "Ever wonder how you'd look with just this top-knot on your head?"

"Please, no. I'd probably end up looking like Sokka." She shuddered theatrically, making him laugh, and the sight of him light-hearted again made _her_ laugh out of gladness and sheer relief. A comfortable silence fell over them, and Aang gazed up at the sky, enjoying the moment and the presence of the girl beside him, this sweet, strong, beautiful girl he had fallen in love with. _It's almost better than that time back in the Cave of Two Lovers_, he thought, blushing again at the mere memory. He suddenly realized that here was a perfect chance for him to tell her how he felt about her, and he sucked in a breath, feeling his heart begin to hammer against his ribcage.

"Katara?"

"Aang?"

They blinked at each other, then giggled. "Um, you go first," Aang offered shyly.

"No, no, you go first. I was the one who interrupted you."

"You didn't interrupt anything. Besides, ladies first, right?"

"Oh, all right." She stared down at her tightly clasped hands, her hair partially hiding her face. She looked as uneasy as he'd ever seen her. "Aang, I, um…I just wanted to ask you if…if—oh, never mind," she said abruptly, shaking her head.

"What? If what?"

"Nothing, nothing. It can wait," she muttered, waving a hand dismissively.

"What can wait? Katara, what is it?"

"It's _nothing_, okay?" she insisted, shooting him a glare. "It's not really important, anyway." He gave her a puzzled look, which she pointedly ignored. "Your turn, Aang. What was it you were going to tell me?"

This time, it was his turn to fidget nervously. He cleared his throat and screwed up enough courage to meet her expectant gaze. "I, uh, there's something I've been, um, wanting to tell you. Katara, I—I think I—"

Her mouth suddenly opened in a jaw-splitting yawn, which she quickly covered with one hand. "Oops," she said sheepishly. "Sorry. You were saying?"

"—I think I should get you back to camp. It's already so late it's early," he finished lamely. _Stupid_, he berated himself. _What is wrong me, anyway? _

"Oh," she murmured, and Aang was certain he'd only imagined the momentary flash of disappointment on her face. "You're right. If we're planning to go into that next town in the morning, then we all need our rest. What about you? Are you going to be all right?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm fine now." He air-lifted himself up and offered his hand to help her off the rock. "Thanks, Katara," he said warmly.

She gave his hand an answering squeeze. "You're welcome, Aang."

He lay back down on Appa's flank and watched her get settled on her sleeping furs. When he was sure that she was asleep, he hopped back down and tucked the covers securely around her before sitting back to gaze at her some more.

_I think I like you, Katara. Much, much more than normal._

_That_ was what he should have told her tonight. Then again, she _was_ tired and it _was_ late. An even more perfect moment for him to confess his feelings for her was sure to present itself, and when that time comes, he'd be ready.

He allowed himself a little grin. _Who knows?_ he thought as he lay back and closed his eyes. _It might even be tomorrow_.

_(To Be Continued…)_


	2. Chapter 2

II

She knelt by the smoldering remains of the campfire, running her fingers idly over the parchment in her lap. Her pack lay beside her, half-forgotten. It was barely past dawn but the sun was already a brilliant disk against the cloudless sky, transforming the forest into a lush tapestry of green and gold. The smell of the roasted fish and wild yams that had been their breakfast still hung in the air, subtly reminding her of the task she was supposed to do, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to move. Instead, she turned to gaze at the stream where Aang and Momo were playing, and sighed quietly.

She felt a bit…odd this morning. Not sick, exactly, just…odd. Her stomach felt fluttery, although she was sure she hadn't eaten anything out of the ordinary. There was a textured quality to the air she breathed, and her senses seemed to be working a little better than usual—the sunlight seemed just a little brighter, the forest smelled just a little woodsier, and the water in the stream had never felt as cool and delicious against her skin as when she washed herself that morning. She watched as Aang splashed around in the water, doing waterbending forms and laughing when Momo did a sort of gliding dive from the rock. It warmed her to see him acting like a carefree child again. Last night, there had been no trace of that child when she looked into his face. His gray eyes had been haunted, filled with the shadowy remnants of his dream and behind them, the terrible knowledge of his responsibility. She knew he was the Avatar and was destined—no, _duty-bound_ to save the world, but last night, for a few moments at least, she had wanted nothing more than to take away the shadows in his eyes and give him a chance at the childhood the world had attempted to deny him.

She sighed again, then giggled when a dripping Momo launched himself at Aang's shoulder and shook himself dry, spattering water everywhere. Her hands clasped together absently, recalling the touch of another. She had very nearly asked him last night; just thinking about her near-slip gave her the chills. It was just some crazy notion of hers, albeit an annoyingly persistent one, but for one breathless moment she had very nearly given voice to it. It seemed so ridiculous now, and she was glad for the return of daylight and sanity and the simple familiarity of practical, sensible things such as cooking and packing and planning a market trip. Through some miracle, she had managed to hold on to her pride and dignity despite the strange, dreamlike fit she had had, and she was glad.

…wasn't she?

Yes, she was, she decided. It was just a stupid idea brought on by too much worrying and too little sleep. Besides, it wasn't as if anything remotely like last night was ever going to happen again. He was the Avatar and she was his waterbending teacher, and they were on a mission to save the world. They had no time for weird moments like last night.

No matter how wonderful it was.

"Katara, you're either memorizing that map or you're going to start drooling and mumbling to yourself any minute now."

"What?" Startled, she glowered up at her brother, praying he wouldn't notice her guilty flush. "I'm not drooling!"

Sokka snorted. "Are you kidding? You've been sitting there with this goofy look on your face for the past ten minutes and you haven't even looked at that map once. What the heck's so riveting about the stream, anyway?" He squinted in the direction of said stream while she sent a silent prayer of thanks to the deities that Aang had moved out of the line of sight. Finding nothing interesting, Sokka huffed disgustedly and turned back to her. "Whatever. Tell me you've at least found this town on the map."

"I have," she snapped. "Tai Shen's located at the base of a mountain southwest of here. All we need to do is follow the stream." She rolled up the map and stuck it in her pack with a flourish.

Sokka was clearly unimpressed. "Right," he drawled. "And I can definitely feel a sense of urgency radiating from you this morning. An urgency, I might add, that you've been drilling into us all yesterday afternoon."

"Sokka, stop ranting and start making sense," she said, trying to stave off the beginnings of a headache. Dealing with her cranky brother first thing in the morning was not high on her list of favorite things to do.

He scowled at her. "What I'm saying, Katara, is that you're the one who's been telling us how badly we need to drop by this town yesterday, and now look at you. You haven't even put out the fire, yet!" He pointed accusingly at the still-glowing embers. "At this rate, I'll be as old as Bumi by the time we make it to Tai Shen, let alone Ba Sing Se."

Growling, she grabbed her water canteen and jumped to her feet. With a wave of her hand, water flew out of the spout, twirled in the air, then jetted onto the remains of the fire with an impressive splash and a hiss of steam, forcing Sokka to scuttle away from the blast site. "There. Are you happy now, oh Great Lord Sokka?" she said sarcastically.

"Aaugh! There's mud all over my pants!" he yelped, batting at the black splotches.

"Hey, Katara, are you done yet? There's something I—what's wrong with Sokka?" Aang, wearing only his wet leggings and a damp Momo on his shoulder, slowed to a stop when he came into the campsite.

"Nothing. He's just not a morning person, that's all," Katara said blandly.

"Oh, _I'm _not a morning person." Sokka shot her a nasty look, still scrubbing at the mud stains.

"You know, you can wash those off in the stream," Aang pointed out helpfully. "It'll dry out in no time. Come on, Katara. There's something I want to show you." He grabbed her hand and began to pull her toward the stream.

"Show me what?" she asked, beginning to smile despite herself. Aang's enthusiasm could be downright contagious.

Aang gave her an engaging grin. "You'll see."

Katara, who had been about to insist that Aang tell her what he was up to, suddenly found herself with no words to say. Her stomach was fluttering again, a not unpleasant sensation, and it took all her self-control not to pull her hand out of his grasp. After last night, his hand in hers felt too warm, too solid, too…too _right._ It was thoroughly disconcerting, to say the least. And when he looked at her…well, she'd always been able to read every thought and emotion in his wide gray eyes, but when did she start believing, even _worrying_, that he could do the same to her? And why, in the name of all the gods, should it matter? The confusion was starting to unnerve her, and she didn't think she'd ever been so grateful to hear her brother hollering indignantly behind her.

"Hey, where're you going?" Sokka demanded. "Haven't you two gotten sick of playing with water yet?"

They stopped and turned, and Katara thrust her hand behind her discreetly as soon as Aang released it. "This won't take long, Sokka. I just want to show Katara a new waterbending move I came up with," he explained cheerfully. "Besides, I'm sure Appa wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer. Right, Appa?"

All eyes turned toward the bison that was sprawled contentedly nearby. Obligingly, Appa opened his mouth wide, revealing a mass of half-chewed leaves and branches, and gave a bone-rattling bellow.

Sokka's eyebrow twitched. "Oh, sure. Ask a ten-ton flying monster to be the voice of reason in this group."

"Come on, Sokka, it won't kill you to be a little less uptight." Smiling impishly, Katara picked up her pack and walked over to him. "Then again, since you're so eager to get going, would you mind putting this up in the saddle for me?" she added sweetly, dumping her pack in his arms.

"Katara, I'm not your porter! And where're you going?" her brother yelled.

"I want to check out this new move of his," she called over her shoulder. "I _am_ his teacher, after all."

_That's right, his teacher, _she thought as she stood in the stream across Aang, arms held ready, waiting for his move. Soon, the air was filled with sprays of water and ice, sparkling like gems in the sunlight.

_His teacher and his friend._ _That's the way it should be. _

_The _only _way it should be._

o – o – o – o – o

"So tell me. Why are you so dead-set on visiting this town, anyway?"

Katara glanced briefly at her brother, who was slouched against the saddle beside Momo, one arm hooked over the rim. "One word, Sokka: Thread."

He arched an eyebrow. "Thread?"

She lifted the shirt she was mending and poked her hand through the hole, waggling her fingers meaningfully. "Thread. You didn't really think it was just food we were using up, did you? Tai Shen's a small town so it's unlikely that the Fire Nation would bother with it, and it's not going to take us too far off course to get there, anyway."

"Mm-hm," Sokka muttered, unconvinced.

"I've heard about Tai Shen," Aang spoke up, twisting around in his seat atop Appa's head. "Back when we were in Aunt Wu's village. I overheard a couple of ladies talking about jewelry, and one of them was saying how her necklace had been made in Tai Shen. Her friend seemed really impressed."

Sokka's mouth stretched into a cat-like grin. "Oh, _now_ I get it. Tai Shen's a town known for its _jewelry_. Thank you, Aang, for enlightening me. But wait! This detail couldn't possibly have anything to do with _Katara_ wanting to go on a little jaunt to Tai Shen, could it?"

Katara frowned. "What exactly are you getting at, Sokka?"

"Nothing," Sokka replied innocently. "Just thinking how predictable you are, that's all."

"Predictable? You're talking about Katara, right?" Aang's perplexed gaze swung from sister to brother and back again.

The expression on Sokka's face practically oozed smugness. "Uh-huh. It's girly stuff, Aang, and trust me, that's predictable. I mean, think about it. We're going to a town full of jewelry and stuff, and we're going _shopping_. Hmm, maybe I better hold on to our money for a while, otherwise there's no telling how many silly gewgaws and sparkly doodads she's going to load us with. So come on, Katara. Be a good girl and hand it over."

Katara's temper, hardly known for its restraint to begin with, finally boiled over. "That's it!" she yelled, flinging Sokka's shirt into his face. "You can darn your own clothes. And to think I was planning on buying you something new to wear for warm weather when we got to Tai Shen. Well, forget it! You can go around in shredded shirts and pants split at the crotch for all I care. Move over, Aang," she barked at the hapless young Avatar. "I'm sitting with you. If I stay any longer around this jerk, I'll end up pushing him right off Appa's back."

"Whoa!" Aang quickly dropped the reins and grabbed Katara's hands to help her clamber over the saddle and settle beside him. He moved to give her as much space as he could, but there was only so much room on the back of Appa's head. She knew she was probably crowding him, but she couldn't quite bring herself to abandon her new post so soon after commandeering it. _Besides_, a voice whispered inside her head, _it feels nice to be sitting next to him, doesn't it?_ She stifled _that_ thought as soon as it emerged.

"Kataraaa!" Sokka whined. "At least finish fixing my shirt. The sleeve's about to fall off!"

"Hmph." She tossed her head, determined to tune out her idiot brother. When she felt Aang staring at her, she fixed him a quelling glare. "Say one word about how silly I am, and I'm pushing _you_ off Appa. Even if it doesn't really work on you," she added, deflating a little when she remembered what he was and what the glider staff behind him was for.

He gulped and nodded. "No problem. I wasn't really thinking it, anyway."

"Oh? What _were_ you thinking of?"

For some reason, her question appeared to have caught him off guard. "What? Oh, uh, nothing. I wasn't thinking about anything," he said, his gaze skittering away from hers.

She smiled teasingly, curious about his odd behavior. "Oh, really? That didn't sound like 'nothing' to me."

To her surprise, he became even more flustered. "It was just—just dumb stuff. Not worth talking about, honestly," he said with manic cheer.

"Aaugh! Momo, stoppit! Stoppit, I said! Leggo of my shirt before you—oh _great!_ The sleeve's completely ripped off!"

She spared a glance at her brother, who had just lost a spirited tug-of-war with the lemur over the shirt, before turning back to Aang. He was staring straight ahead, a pensive look on his face. She felt her heart turn over, and impulsively slipped a comforting arm around his shoulders. "You're thinking about last night, aren't you?" she asked, recalling the nightmare that had woken him up.

He stiffened for a moment, his face going red, then the blush faded away with his sigh. "Yeah," he replied, looking up to meet her gaze. His gray eyes caught and held hers, and she felt her breath hitch. A thrill of alarm shot through her, but before she could pull away he smiled at her, a warm, heartfelt smile that slid right through her defenses. "Don't worry, Katara," he told her. "It's going to be okay, you'll see."

Once again, it was Sokka who unintentionally came to her rescue, an irony that only she took note of. "Ahem," he cleared his throat meaningfully. "Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but I think something's happening down there."

They turned in the direction he was pointing at. For the most part, they had been following the stream as it wound through the forest, but for the last few minutes their flight had begun veering to the right. The new position brought them within sight of a wide road at the edge of the forest. Several men were blocking the road, apparently intently focused upon something in their midst, and the sound of jeering and mocking laughter could be heard despite the distance. All of the men, the three noticed with sinking dismay, were clad in crimson armor.

Sokka hissed through his teeth. "Fire Nation soldiers. Katara, what was that again about Tai Shen being too small for the Fire Nation to notice?"

"They've got rhinos with them," Aang observed grimly. "Appa, fly low and keep as much forest cover as you can between them and us."

"No, wait," Katara said quickly. "I think they're leaving."

Sure enough, the troop of soldiers and their mounts were moving on, galloping briskly down the road in the opposite direction and leaving behind a cloud of dust—and two rather forlorn-looking figures crouching in the dirt.

"Oh man, don't tell me the Fire Nation's into mugging innocent travelers now," Sokka commented disgustedly.

Aang frowned. "We have to help them. Come on, Appa."

With a grunt, the bison swerved in mid-air and began to descend. As they drew closer to the figures on the ground, they could hear a hoarse voice spitting out a steady stream of abuse against the soldiers.

"…took the new batch… didn't even spare poor Killer…cursed Fire Nation brigands…"

Even before Appa's feet touched the ground, Aang had already leaped off with a gust of air, glider staff in hand. He was followed a few seconds later by Katara and Sokka with Momo on his shoulder. They found the two erstwhile victims of the Fire Nation's soldiers crawling around on all fours, picking up small objects on the ground and stuffing them into pouches, one of them muttering and cursing all the while. They appeared oblivious to their new audience and would have likely remained so if Aang hadn't cleared his throat loudly to signal their presence.

With a surprised gasp, one of the figures lifted her head in Aang's general direction, frowning mightily. When no attack was forthcoming, she stood up and faced them, gripping her cloth pouch in front of her. She was followed reluctantly by her scowling companion, who turned out to be a skinny old man dressed in typical Earth Kingdom garb—baggy brown trousers and a beige, high-collared shirt. His sharp, green eyes glared at them fiercely from underneath his one, bushy eyebrow while the brown folds of his face were pulled back in a defensive snarl, revealing a perfect set of shockingly white, even teeth. His white hair was as thick as his eyebrow and rose around his head in a kind of snowy inverted pyramid, adding inches to his height. He clutched a pouch in each of his gnarled hands, his entire stance daring anyone to try and take them from him.

The girl herself looked no older than Katara. She was also dressed in cream-colored trousers and a high-collared blouse with little white beads down the front, although both trousers and blouse were dirty and disheveled from her encounter with the soldiers. Her black hair had come loose from the wooden sticks holding it in a bun, and several strands were hanging in her face. She looked even more guarded than her companion, as impossible as it seemed, obviously aware of the curious stares in her direction, which were focused mostly on the length of white cloth tied over her eyes.

Sokka cracked first. "You're blind!" he exclaimed, pointing at the girl.

"Yes. What of it?" the old man retorted challengingly.

"I wasn't talking to _you_—ow! Katara!"

Katara lowered the hand she had whacked her brother upside the head with, and bowed to the couple. "Please excuse my brother. He hasn't had a lot of practice using tact."

"Tact?" the old man snorted. "He's a rude young whippersnapper, if you ask me."

"No, no, please. It's all right," the girl said quickly.

Aang stepped forward. "We saw what happened. Are you guys okay?"

"Yes, we're fine now," the girl answered, just as the old man shouted, "No! No! A thousand times no!"

Aang raised an eyebrow. "Sooo, which is it?"

The girl touched the old man on the arm and shook her head once. He grunted loudly and turned his back on them. "Thank you for your concern, kind strangers," she said with careful politeness. "My grandfather and I are unhurt, but those soldiers took away our belongings—"

"And Killer! They took Killer, the wretched thieves!" the old man cut in, shaking a fist.

"Killer!" Sokka squawked, earning another smack from Katara.

The girl moved her head as though she were rolling her eyes. "Yes, and Killer. Some of the things they stole from us were worth a great deal. Some were even irreplaceable."

"What did they take from you?" Aang asked.

"And who's Killer?" Sokka wanted to know.

In reply, the girl crouched down and felt around the ground until her fingers closed around something. She held her hand out expectantly until Aang figured out what she wanted and brought his own hand up to take the object from her. The three of them stared down at tiny yellow ball in his palm. It rolled slightly, revealing a pair of holes on either side.

Katara blinked. "It's a bead."

"It's jade," the girl said patiently.

"Jade?" Aang echoed. "But I thought jade was green."

"Jade comes in many colors. There's red, white, lavender and even brown jade, although the most popular color is green." The girl held out her hand again for the bead, which she then dropped into her pouch. "My grandfather and I had gone to fetch a delivery of beads from the neighboring town and were returning to Tai Shen when the soldiers came upon us. They took everything—"

"Don't forget Killer!"

"—except for these jade beads, which they scattered all over the ground," the girl continued, ignoring her grandfather's interruption. "I suppose like you, they didn't believe that jade could come in any other color besides green."

"It was worth a fortune, those beads!" the old man lamented, pulling at his bushy mane of hair. "A fortune! An entire year of scrimping and saving to build up capital, wasted!"

The girl touched her grandfather's hitching shoulders comfortingly. "It's okay, Grandfather. It could have been worse."

"Worse!" he howled. "Tell that to poor Killer!"

Sokka nearly tore at his own hair in aggravation. "Somebody better explain who or what Killer is or I swear there's going to be trouble."

The old man sniffled pitifully. "She was our faithful steed, our Killer."

"So those soldiers stole your beads and your family horse, er, bird, er, whatever. Hmm." Aang rubbed his chin thoughtfully, eyes narrowed. A second later, his face lit up. "No problem. I can get them back for you. And Killer, too."

"You can?" the old man and his granddaughter chorused disbelievingly.

Katara frowned. "Aang, you're talking about at least half a dozen soldiers. On _rhinos_."

Aang grinned jauntily, spinning his staff with casual ease. "I can take them."

"But Aang—"

"It's okay, Katara. I can handle this. What's more, I won't even need Appa for this job. You guys stay here and help them pick up all those bead things, okay? Be right back!"

"Aang, wait!" Katara called out, but Aang had already tossed his glider staff in the air, launched himself after it, and was soaring away. She brought an arm up to shield her face automatically, but the backlash of air caught the old man and his granddaughter by surprise. Katara barely noticed their astonished gasps, however; she was too intent on tracking Aang's flight with her eyes.

Sokka clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, Katara. If Aang says he can take them, he can take them. Besides, what's a bunch of Fire Nation thugs against one powerful airbender, right?"

"That boy is an airbender," the old man mumbled, appearing shaken for the first time.

"Can he really do it?" his granddaughter asked doubtingly. "He sounded so…young."

"Yeah, he is. It pretty much works to his advantage," Sokka said, looking over at the girl.

"But he could be—"

"Hush, Li Mei," the old man admonished, grabbing her arm. "You shouldn't question the Avatar. His companions have faith in his abilities and for good reason."

The girl appeared confused. "But he might—the _Avatar_?"

"Yes," Katara said softly. "Aang is the Avatar. You can ask him yourself when he comes back."

"The Avatar," the girl whispered, then twitched a little as though suddenly realizing something. "Oh my goodness. Please forgive our rudeness, companions of the Avatar. My name is Li Mei and this is my grandfather Wang. Our deepest gratitude for all your help." She clasped her hands in front of her and bowed low. After a tiny pause, her grandfather followed suit, looking just a little less hostile than before.

Katara smiled nervously in the face of such formality. "I-it's all right, really. Glad to be of help. My name's Katara, and this is my brother Sokka." She pointed at Sokka, who was standing with his arms crossed, staring hard at Li Mei. "The furry little guy on his shoulder is Momo. Come on, we'll help you pick up the rest of these beads."

Li Mei smiled back. "Thank you."

It took several more minutes, but soon all the pouches were full again. Katara, however, had managed to retrieve only a handful of jade beads. She was too busy scanning the horizon for tell-tale stirrings of air, unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching her.

_(To Be Continued…)_

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_Author's Notes:_

_Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed. I hope you enjoyed this installation, too. For those who've read an earlier version, I've already put in some corrections--changed a few words, added/deleted some phrases, that's all. Speaking of corrections, I've also done a bit of fine-tuning on the first chapter, too. _

_Oh, and thanks again to D.Tempest for the explanation on Mary Sues. I hope to God my OCs work out okay,but if they don't, please let me know so I can do more fine-tuning on the fic. _

_Again, thanks for reading (and reviewing! makes my day, you know ) and God bless._


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer Part 2: I am not a gemologist or a jeweler. Not even an incompetent one. All references to gems, jewelry or metalsmithing I got through some feverish research on the Internet, and the rest from some feverish workings of my imagination. Any errors I made regarding the crafts are not only unintentional, they're inevitable as well. Also, Disclaimer Part 1 still stands: no progress yet on buying the rights to Avatar from Nickelodeon._

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III

Another miserable day, another miserable town. Zuko trudged silently behind his uncle Iroh as they made their way through the crowded streets. Except that he didn't trudge. Years of rigorous training in both the bending arts and princely decorum kept him from walking with anything but rigid, stiff-shouldered dignity, the unconscious arrogance and self-possession of royalty reflected in every movement of his body. The need to appear inconspicuous and to blend in with the rest of the teeming masses, however, had forced him to curb some of that arrogance. It was just one more thing to add to the growing list of offenses committed against him.

His uncle's blithe response to the disaster that had befallen them did not help matters at all. They may have been forced into exile in a painfully humiliating way and treated like beggars by the very people his country had conquered, but Iroh continued to behave as though this was merely the latest in a series of amusing adventures designed to liven up a somewhat dull holiday spree. Even now, he could see his uncle's head turning this way and that as he peered into one shop after another, eyeing the various merchandise with childlike curiosity—"imbibing the local color" was the charming way he had phrased it. Zuko set his jaw. He wasn't a blasted tourist. He was the prince of the greatest nation in the world who had been reduced by circumstances to the level of a fugitive and a common criminal, deceived by his own sister and hunted down by the same army he had once commanded. Imbibing the local color was the last thing he wanted to do.

In fact, if he were to be completely honest with himself, the _first_ thing he wanted to do was find some money so he and his uncle could buy something to eat. Somehow, the four rather bland mung-bean pastries and two shriveled oranges that they had purchased that morning only made the hunger pangs worse, but with their earnings from Iroh's panhandling and impromptu street performances, that was all they could afford. To make matters worse, the Earth Kingdom garments he and his uncle had "acquired" in order to blend in turned out to be exactly what they appeared to be: cheap, ill-fitting and poorly made. To someone accustomed only to the finest silks, the softest leathers and the most well-crafted armor, the shoddy, scum-colored peasant rags were an affront to his sensibilities. Then again, _everything_ around him was an affront to his sensibilities, and he had just had about enough of—

"Zuko, you shouldn't grind your teeth like that," Iroh chided him mildly. "You could wear them down to stumps, and then you'd have to spend the next sixty years drinking only tea and eating honey jelly. Although the tea doesn't sound like a bad idea," he added, grinning over his shoulder.

Zuko frowned at his uncle from underneath his woven hat, tugging at the reins of the riding-beast they had also "acquired" from Song and her family. "I do _not_ grind my teeth."

"Oho, are you serious?" Iroh halted, forcing Zuko to do the same. "You see that man over there? The one with the loud voice and happy disposition?" Zuko followed the direction of his gaze to a nearby watering-hole where a man, obviously well into his cups despite the fact that it was barely midday, was belting out a drinking song at the top of his lungs. His unmusical braying easily overpowered the noise of all the shouting, haggling, jeering and plotting that were presently going on around them. "Well, I could hear your teeth grinding even over his singing," Iroh informed him. "Ho, you see? You're doing it again!"

Zuko took a deep breath and forced his jaws to unlock. "Uncle, what are we doing here? This place is nothing but a den of thieves and cutthroats, and you know as well as I do that there's a Fire Nation garrison not far from here. I have no interest in playing hide and seek with those soldiers."

"Really? Hmm." Iroh scratched his face thoughtfully. "You know something? I rather like it here. It's a very interesting place. Did you know that this is less a town than it is a huge marketplace? This is one of the major trading hubs of the Earth Kingdom. Merchants and craftsmen come here to buy products wholesale. Anything you want you will find here, even if what you want will have to arrive here through, let us say, unconventional means."

Zuko's flat stare took in the decrepit buildings, the dirty streets, the dimly lit shops and seedy cafes, the hundreds of carts parked in every available space and covered with a dizzying array of merchandise, and of course, the town's inhabitants themselves, who seemed to consist mostly of grubby, sly-eyed, granite-faced men. It reminded him too much of those murderous, double-crossing pirates for comfort. He watched as a fight broke out in yet another liquor-pit, ending in a couple of men chasing another man down the street, overturning a cabbage cart that hadn't been quick enough getting out of the way. "I believe it," Zuko stated darkly as the cabbage cart owner burst into tears.

Iroh beamed. "There's a reason why the garrison was established near here. Soldiers who go off duty have to have somewhere to enjoy it, right?"

"I wouldn't know," Zuko muttered.

"In any case, practically everybody here is wanted by the law," Iroh went on cheerfully. "Which is why here, we will blend in perfectly."

Zuko rolled his eyes. Sometimes, following his uncle's logic was like trying to build a model ship out of wet noodles, and the fact that he was right most of the time only made it all the more galling. "It's better if we got out of here as quickly as possible. This place doesn't feel—Uncle?"

Iroh had stopped again and was staring intently into a narrow alley. Zuko tensed, wondering if his darling sister had taken to hiring mercenaries to hunt them down. _And why not?_ he thought sourly. _He'd _done it, and Azula had certainly not been gifted with as much scruples as he was. "Uncle, what is it?" he asked quietly. "Is it bounty-hunters? Fire Nation spies?"

"There!" Iroh pointed. "You see that?"

Zuko squinted into the shadowy depths of the alley. "I don't see anything."

"There!" Iroh said again. "That sparkle, that brief flash of light. There's something in there."

With that, he pushed his way through the forest of crates and stalls, leaving Zuko standing there, gaping after him. "Uncle, wait!"

He followed his uncle, yanking the riding-beast after him, ignoring the yelling and cursing he left in his wake. The alley led to an even narrower doorway over which hung a dusty bead curtain. He found Iroh inside what appeared to be a curio shop, judging from the trinkets and figurines that lined the shelves. Iroh himself was standing in front of a plinth set in a place of honor beside the doorway, placed upon which was a rather ugly toad carved from some sort of shiny burgundy stone. The toad sat upon a bed of gold coins and held a coin between its lips. Its eyes were made of clear, sparkling gems—obviously the source of the flash that had so intrigued his uncle. In the light of a nearby oil lamp, the eyes appeared to wink at him. Zuko glared right back.

The shop owner, a tiny, wizened old man, was looking at him nervously. Iroh gave him a brief glance. "Zuko, don't bring that beast in here. It might break something."

"I won't," Zuko snapped. "I'm just keeping an eye on it. I'm not about to let some filthy thief steal it from right under my nose."

Iroh lifted an eyebrow at that, but Zuko stared back unblinkingly. Shrugging, Iroh turned his attention back to the hideous red toad. "This is the most exquisite carving of the lucky _chanchu_ frog I've ever seen. This is jade, isn't it?"

The shop owner seemed pleased. "Ah, sir, it appears you know your stones. Yes, indeed, this is an example of red or _feicui_ jade, which is harder to come by than the popular Imperial jade. Jade is considered a sacred stone, and red is the color of prosperity. This frog is thrice-lucky for me, as it was carved for me by a jeweler-friend of mine who lives in Tai Shen."

"So?" Zuko put in disdainfully. "How does _that_ make it lucky? It certainly doesn't make it any less revolting to look at. It's even got warts all over its back."

Iroh shot him a disapproving look, but the shop owner took his comments in stride. "You must be strangers around here if you haven't heard about Tai Shen. Tai Shen is a town known for its superb work with gemstones. Many of its inhabitants are highly skilled jewelers, and it is said that they practice a highly specialized form of earthbending there. Here, take a look at these." He ducked down behind the counter, only to come up with a leather case in each hand. He set the cases down on the counter and flipped them open, revealing a stunning array of necklaces, earrings, rings, tiaras, belts, brooches, bracelets, anklets and hair combs. There were pearls, cinnabar, ivory and gems of every hue and color imaginable, glittering in the lamp light like a rainbow in solid form. Iroh gasped in delight and even Zuko, used as he was to the finery of the Fire Nation's royal court, felt his eyes go wide.

The shop owner nodded approvingly at their reactions. "The jewelers of Tai Shen understand these stones. They believe that each stone has its own special power, and when they work with the gems, they perform a ritual that increases that stone's particular energy. My friend calls it 'talking to the stone.' Take this, for example." He lifted a pair of pale blue teardrop earrings. "Among other things, turquoise is used for protection against injuries and broken bones. You can be sure that the jeweler who created this 'told' the stone to keep its wearer safe from harm. And this." This time, he picked out a bracelet made of clear, blue-green beads. "Aquamarine gives one strength and courage and is used for safe journeys over water, so the jeweler must have 'talked' this bracelet into giving its wearer courage, especially when over water."

Zuko looked bored. "So you're saying your friend 'talked' your toad into giving you good luck?"

The shop owner smiled happily. "Why, yes, exactly. You catch on quick, sir."

"This is all so fascinating. All these lovely gems, and such wonderful craftsmanship."

Zuko groaned inwardly, recognizing the glow in his uncle's eyes. He had better get Iroh away from these baubles before they found themselves clapped into prison for shoplifting. "Uncle, this is getting tedious. Let's go."

He stepped out of the doorway and froze. A small troop of Fire Nation soldiers was moving down the street, forcing carts and passersby to shuffle out of the way. Zuko ducked back into the shop so quickly he nearly knocked the jade toad off its stand. "Then again, no reason why we can't stay a while," he said to no one in particular.

Iroh and the shop owner were deep in a discussion of Tai Shen jewelry and were oblivious to Zuko's troubles. "My friend the jeweler—the one I was talking about—he and his granddaughter came here yesterday to deliver some of their latest creations," the shop owner was saying. "I haven't had time to sort them out for display yet, but here." He brought forth a couple of velvet pouches and spilled the contents over the counter for Iroh to peruse. "They left with several bags of my new semi-precious beads and some uncut stones besides, so you can be sure that in two weeks' time, I'll have a new batch of creations by Wang of Tai Shen."

"Your friend is very skilled," Iroh commented, examining an opal ring. "He and his granddaughter must travel with a veritable private army. I can't imagine going anywhere alone with all these treasures upon me."

"You don't know my friend Wang," the shop owner said wryly. "He's a bit eccentric, see. You know how those artist-types can be. I've been trying to get him to hire somebody to help with deliveries for the longest time, but he always insists that it's safer with just the two of them. Something about remaining inconspicuous and blending in, I think."

"Ah," Iroh said sagely.

"Yes, Wang can be pretty strange about some things," the shop owner continued, obviously in a chatty mood. "If you ask me, there's something a bit, well, _off_ about his granddaughter as well. Not that I'm maligning the girl, of course. Sweet girl, very good-natured. Too bad about her eyes, though. She would have been lovely otherwise."

"What's wrong with her eyes?" Iroh asked, while Zuko glared at him for encouraging the shop owner.

"The girl's blind as a bat. I've often wondered what happened to her that made her that way. Must have been during the war against the Fire Nation. That seems to happen a lot nowadays."

"Ah," Iroh said again.

The shop owner nodded as though coming to a decision. "Yes, her village must have been raided by the Fire Nation or something. That would explain why she just appeared at Wang's side one day. All these years and I never knew Wang had ever been married. Never thought he had it in him," he added, chuckling.

Zuko's patience was running thin. The shop owner was nothing but a gossipy old coot. He moved toward his uncle, but Iroh had spotted a slightly smaller pouch and was already shaking it out eagerly. A profusion of gold and silver fell out. "Wow," Iroh said with childlike awe. "This is beautiful metalwork. Is your friend Wang a goldsmith as well?"

The shop owner shrugged. "He's trying to branch out into metalsmithing, but he doesn't make a lot of these. He works mostly with gemstones. But as you can see, what few examples of gold and silver jewelry he makes are still of the finest quality."

Iroh gazed down speculatively at a set of gold bangles. "The finest quality indeed."

"Uncle!" Zuko hissed. "Can we go now?"

The shop owner laughed again. "Your nephew seems a bit restless, sir. So, which of these pieces would you like to purchase?"

It took several minutes to convince the shop owner that they were not interested in purchasing anything, and a few minutes more for Zuko to drag his uncle out of the shop. Soon they were back in the streets, wandering around in search of a suitable spot where Iroh could importune people for some coin. "Such wonderful works of art," Iroh sighed. "All those beautiful jewels. And that metalwork."

Zuko snorted. "If you mean those gold and silver trinkets, I've seen better back home. Nobody makes metalwork the way the smiths of the Fire Nation do, Uncle, and you know it."

"Yes, I know it. But we're in the Earth Kingdom, Zuko," Iroh pointed out. "Don't you think it's odd for an Earth Kingdom jeweler to display such talent in metalsmithing? He may not be any better than an amateur goldsmith back home, but he would probably fit right in. Hmm, maybe we could pay a visit to Tai Shen. What do you think?"

"Absolutely not," Zuko stated coldly.

Iroh chuckled. "Ah well, it was worth a thought. Now then, it's time for us to sing for our supper."

"We haven't even had lunch yet!"

"All the more reason for us to sing for it," Iroh said lightly as they came upon a relatively empty corner. He took his reed hat off and thrust it at a stout, middle-aged woman passing by, a mournful expression on his face. "Spare a coin for a hungry old man, pretty lady?"

Zuko slumped down, his own hat dipped low as he listened to his uncle—brother of the Fire Lord, formidable firebender and the once-renowned Dragon of the West—work this filthy, stinking Earth Kingdom crowd for a few copper coins. He gritted his teeth, feeling his gut churn wretchedly with curdling pride. Or acid. With the way their luck was running nowadays, it was likely both.

Another miserable day, another miserable town.

_(To Be Continued…)_

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_Author's Notes:_

_This is actually the seventh, yes, seventh time I've uploaded this thing. Made a few more corrections, that's all. Anyway..._

_Thank you so much for still reading this. I had fun writing Zuko and Iroh, although doing research was a bit of a headache. And thanks most especially to BN, N1cindyfan, D.Tempest, ravens-lost-sister (who will have to send me some cake from the chapter-update party) and Niana Kuonji (who likes green jade best but will probably be okay with a pink jade lucky frog)._

_Next update--back to our favorite trio. I just had to get this chapter over and done with._


	4. Chapter 4

IV

"Come on, Killer," Aang coaxed. "Move a little faster, okay?"

All he got in reply from the bird-like beast he was riding was a sullen "squaawrk" and a toss of her head. Aang sagged against the thin, gray neck and sighed. He'd tried everything—pleading with her, letting go of the reins, prodding her with gentle kicks against her sides, even running behind her and flapping his arms, yelling like a madman—but nothing he did could make Killer move at a pace faster than a steadily plodding gait. He straightened and glanced behind him, half-expecting to see a mob of angry, fire-breathing soldiers chasing after him. He wondered how much time had lapsed since he'd left them unconscious and hanging from the tree-tops at the edge of the forest. He'd driven the rhinos away to slow the soldiers down, but at the rate he and Killer were moving, a toddler would have been able to catch up with them, let alone a group of Fire Nation soldiers bent on settling a score with the young airbender who had thrashed them soundly and stripped them of their loot. The thought made the skin between his shoulder blades crawl, and he decided that giving Killer another chance wouldn't hurt.

"Come on, girl. Those soldiers are going to wake up any minute and shoot fire at our heads, so we better get moving."

"Squaawrk."

Aang tried another tack. "Don't you want to see your master again? I bet he's just up ahead, waiting for you. You don't want to make him worry even more, do you?"

Killer turned her head and gave him a look that clearly said, "Nice try."

Aang groaned. "This is taking forever! Katara and the others are probably wondering what's happened to us. Wait a minute. Killer, yip-yip!"

Nothing happened.

"Yeah, that didn't work too well on Floppsie either. Come _on_, Killer. I know you're old and tired and cranky, but we have to _move_."

Killer tilted her beak upward and gave a low croak. Aang followed her gaze toward the white speck in the sky that was coming straight at them, and immediately brightened. "It's Appa! Over here, boy!" He waved his glider staff in the air to let them know where he was. "Look, Killer. There's your master right there. Do you see—whoa!"

He was nearly thrown off the saddle when Killer suddenly sprinted forward, squawking with pathetic eagerness. Aang grabbed at the reins and boosted himself up with a gust of air to keep from sliding right off Killer's back, laughing with surprise at the unexpected display of vigor from the aging, gray-fuzzed riding-beast. Appa gave a grunting call while Katara and Sokka waved at him from atop the bison's head. Sitting in the saddle, wearing the stunned expressions that first-time Appa-flyers tended to have, were the old jeweler and his granddaughter.

"Aang!" Katara called as Appa touched down, her face alight with joy and relief.

Aang grinned back, feeling his heart skip a beat at the sight of her. "Hey, Katara."

"Killer!" the old man cried as he scrambled off Appa.

"Squaawrk!"

Aang jumped off Killer's back and flipped in mid-air just as the beast gave one last burst of speed. The old man met her half-way and threw his scrawny arms around her equally scrawny neck. Aang was standing nearby watching the reunion when a pair of arms grabbed him, spun him around and wrapped around him in a tight hug. Katara's dark hair and blue-clad shoulder edged his vision and he turned his head instinctively, pressing his face against her throat. It was probably the only thing he liked about being shorter than her by a couple of inches: being able to burrow comfortably against the junction of her neck and collarbone. Tentatively, he lifted his arms to return her embrace but as soon as he did she pulled away, stepping back to make room for Sokka, who was wearing Momo on the top of his head like some sort of bizarre turban.

"What took you so long?" Katara demanded. "We were getting worried."

"Sorry," Aang said sheepishly. "The thing is, well—"

"Say no more. I think I get it," Sokka interrupted in a deadpan voice. He jerked a thumb at where the old man and his riding-beast were still cuddling each other. "Killer, I presume?"

"Yup," Aang said.

"Looks more like a 'Killee' to me."

"Don't you be mouthing off about our Killer, boy," the old man said reproachfully. "She's a tough old bird, ain't you, Killer? Still strong despite your age, eh?" Killer cooed like a pigeon and the cuddling began anew, while Sokka rolled his eyes skyward, the expression on his face making it clear that he believed neither master nor pet had enough brains between them to rattle together in a tea cup.

The sound of somebody clearing her throat drew their attention. "Um, excuse me?" the girl said timidly from her place in the saddle.

Aang and Katara glanced at each other in shared embarrassment. "Oops, sorry about that," Aang said, hopping up onto Appa's saddle. "We kind of forgot that you couldn't just climb off Appa."

The girl bowed. "It is of no consequence, Avatar."

Aang blinked at the girl's oddly formal manner, then shook his head. "Hold on tight," was all he said before scooping the girl up and jumping down, cushioning their fall with a rush of air. He settled her on her feet, waiting until she regained her balance. Killer cawed, trotted over to the girl and lowered her beak into the girl's upraised hands. The girl laughed and hugged the riding-beast's scraggly face to her.

Aang was about to return to his place beside Katara and Sokka when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, wait. You'll probably want these back."

He untied several cloth pouches from one end of his staff and handed them to the old man, who took them with shaking hands. He opened each of the pouches, inspecting their contents briefly, then looked up again, the lines of his face settling in an expression of unaccustomed appreciation. "Well, that about proves it. You certainly are the Avatar, Master Airbender."

"Oh yes." The girl turned toward the direction of Aang's voice, clasped her hands in front of her and bowed again. "Our most heartfelt gratitude, Avatar, to you and your faithful companions."

"Um, you're welcome," Aang said, slightly taken aback by her display of extremely impeccable manners. "It's no big deal. And you can call me Aang."

The girl shook her head fervently. "Oh, but it _is _a big deal, Avatar Aang. You have honored us with your act of compassion and self-sacrifice, returning what had been taken from us at the risk of your own life. I, Li Mei, and my grandfather, Wang of Tai Shen, owe you so much."

Aang took a step back, grinning fixedly. "Um, you really don't owe us anything. Really. Just all in a day's work for the Avatar and his friends. Uh, right, guys?" he called over his shoulder in an undisguised plea for help.

Sokka was watching the girl with narrowed eyes, lips pressed into a thin line, and Aang wondered what had set the older boy off. Katara caught on, though, and moved to stand beside Aang. "It's okay, Li Mei," she said soothingly. "We're glad you got Killer and your beads back and as for the Avatar, it really _is _his job to help out, anyway."

"Oh, but we _must_ repay you for what you have done for us," Li Mei insisted. "If there is anything at all we can do—"

Her grandfather sighed. "Li Mei, how many times do these people have to say 'it's okay'?"

"Actually, there _is _something you can do for us." Aang and Katara both turned to look at Sokka, who was casually picking at his nails. He looked up and grinned archly. "You wouldn't happen to have any food on you, would you? It's just that it's past lunchtime and I'm a growing boy. So is the Avatar, for that matter."

"Sokka!" Katara gasped in disbelief at her brother's audacity.

Li Mei looked crestfallen. "Oh. Unfortunately, we don't have any food with us. But—but if you would honor us further by visiting our home in Tai Shen, I could make you a dinner of stir-fry noodles and sweet and sour tofu. We're headed that way now and—"

"Oh no, that's okay," Sokka said, raising a hand. "That would take us too far out of our way. Whoops! Looks like one of your beads fell out." When Li Mei and her grandfather began looking around for the aforementioned bead, Sokka laughed and slapped himself on the forehead. "Oh, sorry, it was just a trick of the light. My mistake."

"Sokka!" Katara growled, glaring at her brother. Aang, for his part, couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed for Sokka or just be plain confused.

Sokka smiled innocently, ignoring the censorious frown Grandfather Wang was giving him. "So, now that we've said our thank you's and all, it's time for us to be moving along. Come on, guys."

"Sokka, what are you doing?" Katara hissed.

"Oh, please. You must come with us," Li Mei pleaded. "We'd love to show you around Tai Shen, and meeting the Avatar would be such a treat for the people back home."

"I think that's a great idea," Katara said a tad too brightly, shooting a deadly look at her brother. "Don't you agree, _Sokka_?"

"Actually, _Katara_, I don't," Sokka countered in the same tone. "We need to get moving."

Aang glanced at Sokka then at the red-faced Katara. For some reason, Sokka was determined to shake off their two new acquaintances, even to the point of lying about their destination and turning down an invitation to dinner, and something in Aang urged him to listen to the older boy. After all, Sokka was the only one among them who figured out what kind of person Jet really was before it was almost too late. There was something to be said about his "instincts," no matter how many crazy situations his "instincts" had led them to.

Then again, what could be so dangerous about an old man, his blind granddaughter and their ancient riding-beast? Aang mentally shook his head and came to a decision. Whatever it was that Sokka had sensed, they would simply have to deal with it when it comes. In the meantime, there was such as thing as courtesy, and turning down an offer of hospitality—even though Sokka had pretty much gotten all of them invited—definitely did not count as an act of courtesy. Besides, he thought the grumpy old jeweler was an interesting character, and despite her tendency toward melodramatic, over-polite speeches, he found he rather liked Li Mei as well. He glanced at Katara again, wondering if she'd heard that part about his "compassion" and "self-sacrifice." He had to admit, it sounded pretty good to him.

"I'm with Katara on this one, Sokka. It's safer if we travel together, anyway," he said, breaking the stalemate between brother and sister. "Thank you for your invitation. We'd love to visit your town," he said to the other two, feeling the weight of Sokka's stare on the back of his head. "We're not really in that much of a hurry to get to—to wherever it is we're headed, anyway. Right, Sokka?"

He met Sokka's razor-sharp look with a reassuring one of his own, trying to tell the older boy that he knew something was bothering him and that they would be going into this with their eyes wide open. Finally, Sokka shrugged resignedly. "Yeah, sure. No hurry at all," he muttered.

Katara beamed. "Good for you, Sokka," she said in a voice only Aang and her brother could hear.

Aang smiled and turned back to Grandfather Wang and Li Mei, who was looking hopeful again. "So," he began cheerfully, "do you think Killer would mind if she went without a rider for the rest of the trip?"

o – o – o – o – o

Aang found himself sitting beside Katara in Appa's saddle, with Grandfather Wang and Li Mei sitting across them. Sokka had distanced himself from the group with a terse "_I'm _steering," and was now sitting upon Appa's head with his back to them. When Katara noticed Aang glancing over his shoulder at Sokka, she squeezed his hand briefly and leaned over to whisper, "Don't worry about him. He'll come out of his sulk soon enough."

Somewhat to his shame, Aang found that he was more than happy to oblige.

They were flying low, with Appa matching Killer's pace on the ground, although the old riding-beast was moving surprisingly briskly now that she was certain her beloved master was around. The four of them in the saddle were gathered around several small heaps of brilliantly colored stones. Momo, on the other hand, seemed to be everywhere at once, chittering with mad excitement.

"And these royal beauties are amethysts," Grandfather Wang was saying as he pulled yet another smaller pouch from one of the bigger bags. He emptied the contents into his palm to show them, and Aang and Katara made little exclamations of delight at the sight of the deep violet stones. "Practically fresh off the bed. This particular tone and strength is the most valued in the market. Folks used to put amethysts in their wine cups, thinking the stone would ward off drunkenness, but that's just a pile of—hey! Give those back! Those ain't nuts, you little devil!"

He lunged after Momo but the lemur leaped over Aang's head and huddled behind Katara, clutching his prizes tightly. "Momo!" Katara scolded. "I'm sorry, Grandfather Wang. I'll get your gems back later when Momo's done trying to crack them."

Momo blinked up at her innocently, before turning back to his latest acquisitions. So far, he already had a couple of yellow citrine teardrops, several green peridot beads and a translucent crimson lump that turned out to be an uncut garnet.

"Hmph," Grandfather Wang sniffed. "As I was saying, amethysts are known to give one the ability to communicate with the heavenly planes. At the very least, they enhance their wearer's intelligence."

There was a snicker from the direction of Appa's head. Katara twisted around and gave her brother a suspicious look. "Did you say something, Sokka?"

"Oh, just thinking out loud," Sokka answered breezily. "I guess you _could _do with one or two of those rocks after all."

"So you're saying all these stones have their own special powers?" Aang said quickly to head off another squabble between the siblings.

"Yes," the old man replied. "These gems are the earth's most highly evolved children, and each one has its own unique color pattern, composition and energy. Like the earth itself, they respond to the energies of other creatures around them, either working with them or countering their effects. We humans know this instinctively, else why would we have so many ceremonial pieces of jewelry for every occasion imaginable?"

Aang caught Katara's eye and the two of them shared a grin. He knew she was thinking the same thing: how Grandfather Wang's entire demeanor changed whenever he spoke about his gems. His voice lost most of its roughness and a slightly abstracted glaze entered his eyes. It was as obvious as the wiry bush on his head that he loved his work.

"'Highly evolved children'?" Sokka scoffed. "Please. They're _rocks_. Pretty rocks maybe, but still rocks. They're about as intelligent and highly evolved as—as a piece of rock."

"It's true," Li Mei said, speaking for the first time since boarding Appa. "Each gemstone has its own signature energy that every jeweler learns to sense. In fact, my grandfather and the others use that energy whenever they cut and set the gems. They let the stones guide them into creating the designs most suitable to their particular energy. They listen to the voices of these stones, and not only do the stones speak to them, they speak _through _them as well."

Sokka snorted his opinion of that, but something in Li Mei's words made Aang sit up straight. _Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jing_, his old friend Bumi had told him the last time they'd met. _You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking_. Aang turned to Grandfather Wang, eyes wide. "You're an earthbender, aren't you?"

The old man actually looked insulted. "Of course I am. What do you take me for? Urk!" He leaned back in alarm when he suddenly found himself the focus of three pair of eyes—one gray and two identical ice-blue ones. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Can you teach me?"

"Please, can you teach Aang earthbending?"

"Are you any good?"

Grandfather Wang glanced helplessly at Li Mei, apparently forgetting that she couldn't see his expression. Li Mei must have somehow sensed his wordless appeal, however, and chose to respond to the question she considered most inflammatory. "Of course, my grandfather's good!" she said, every bit as indignant as the old man. "Grandfather Wang is famous throughout the Earth Kingdom for his marvelous work with gemstones. Why, there's nobody around who hasn't heard of Wang of Tai Shen and his—"

The old man coughed. "All right, Li Mei, no need to get carried away. Now, then," he continued, green eyes peering at Aang curiously. "Not to say nobody in his right mind wouldn't want to learn the craft, but why would the Avatar be interested in working with gemstones?"

Aang sighed. "It's not that I don't think your work is great, Grandfather Wang, but it's not the gemstones I'm interested in. I just really need to master earthbending as soon as I can. It's part of my training as the Avatar. We've been wandering around searching for an earthbending master for days now, but we haven't come across any until now."

Grandfather Wang lifted his lone eyebrow. "Oh yes, I remember. The Avatar is master of all four elements. I suppose you've already gotten waterbending down pat."

"Well, I've already got a great teacher to teach me waterbending, so I'm not really worried about that." Aang glanced sidelong at Katara as he said this, smiling shyly. He caught the flare of warmth in her eyes before she turned aside to pick up one of the stones. "We were supposed to stay in Omashu so I can learn earthbending from King Bumi but when we got there, well…" He trailed off, remembering the state of the once-proud Earth Kingdom city when they left it.

Li Mei nodded sadly. "News has reached us about what happened to Omashu. I heard the Fire Nation has even changed its name."

"New Ozai," Katara supplied. "That's what the Fire Nation is calling Omashu these days."

"Huh. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, if you ask me," Grandfather Wang muttered. "In any case, I'm afraid you'll have to continue your search for an earthbending master elsewhere."

"What?" three voices cried in unison. "Why?" Aang asked, his frustration clearly evident.

Sokka frowned. "You won't teach Aang because you don't _want_ to or because you _can't_?"

"What exactly are you saying?" Li Mei demanded.

"I'm saying it's a question of him being _able_ to teach Aang," Sokka replied with exaggerated patience, "because I seriously doubt any earthbending master with half a brain would deny the Avatar the training he needs."

"E-ex_cuse_ me?" Li Mei spluttered, her cheeks flushing red.

"All right, that's enough, you two," Grandfather Wang cut in. "You're both correct, in any case. I'm a darned powerful earthbender in my own right and I'm not about to go around being falsely modest about it. _However_," he said loudly in order to be heard over the burst of elation that followed this, "I still can't teach the Avatar earthbending."

"Why not?" Aang asked plaintively.

"Because, Master Airbender, what you need to learn is not what I can teach you," the old man said as if this should have been obvious from the start. "You were right to seek out King Bumi. You need to learn earthbending from a powerful warrior, and there is none more powerful than the king of Omashu. My earthbending cannot and will never be used for combat. I and the other jewelers of Tai Shen use earthbending to cut and carve these gemstones, and through our earthbending we create works of beauty and artistry. None of this crude flinging about of boulders and stirring up of mud, no! Ours is a rare earthbending skill that calls upon the imagination, the magic within one's soul; it is not simply borne out of one's desire to pelt someone with rocks. As such, I doubt you will find our earthbending useful in the battle against the Fire Lord."

"Oh. I guess you're right," Aang mumbled, his shoulders drooping.

Sokka made a disgusted sound. "Great. Wonderful. Here's to yet another dead end. So much for being able to use our time wisely and learn something from this side trip."

"Oh, I don't know," Li Mei said with a smile. "You might learn a little something from our stones that may be of use to you. Or maybe, you might learn to let our stones help _you_."

"Oh yeah? And how would a bunch of colored rocks be able to help us against an army of Fire Nation soldiers?" Sokka asked bitterly.

Li Mei looked uncertain. "Well…maybe not against the soldiers, but there's so much more to life than surviving vicious attacks from the Fire Nation and training for the battle that would decide the fate of the world, don't you think?" Bemused silence greeted her assertion and she rushed to add: "For instance, you're holding a stone in your hand, aren't you, Katara? I heard it click against the other stones when you picked it up. Would you describe it to me, please?"

"This?" Katara glanced down at the stone she still held in her hand. "It's smooth and rounded and it's a gorgeous dark blue with gold speckles all over it."

Li Mei smiled again. "Lapis lazuli. It's the stone of friendship and truth. It helps its wearer be truthful and honest, especially around his friends, and this strengthens their relationship. As strong as the friendship is among the three of you, I'm sure there will be times when being truthful to one another won't be as easy, and here is where lapis lazuli helps."

Aang couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw Katara grimace ever so slightly. "Really? It does? How lovely. Here, Aang, you can look at it if you want to." She passed him the stone with some alacrity and he turned it over in his hands, admiring its beauty.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "As if I'd ever need a lump of rock to help me talk to my friends. As a conversation piece, maybe, but to help me be truthful? Bunch of nonsense."

"What about the pendant on Katara's necklace?" Aang asked.

Katara reached up to touch the blue stone hanging from the choker around her throat. "That's right! I've always wanted to know what kind of stone my mother's necklace is made from. It must mean something wonderful."

Grandfather Wang squinted at it briefly. "Cat's eye apatite, from the looks of it. That blue color is relatively rare. It can be found in some of the ice-covered mountains in the northern regions. The carvings were probably made by a piece of quartz or a steel knife or—"

"Or a shard of ice?" Katara suggested.

Grandfather Wang nodded. "Hmm, yes. Ice gets pretty hard in the temperatures you have at the North Pole. Apatite is known to enhance its wearer's insight and learning abilities. If you need to learn a new skill, particularly one involving body movements and coordination, then apatite is the stone for you."

"Oh, that's right!" Katara exclaimed. "I was wearing this pendant when Aang and I were training with Master Pakku. It must have helped me learn all those waterbending moves."

"Wow, neat!" Aang agreed, leaning over to examine Katara's pendant. Noticing his movement, she reached up to undo the clasp and handed the necklace to him to give him a closer look.

"It was hard work that made you a waterbending master, Katara," Sokka pointed out. "Not some shiny blue stone, no offence to Mother's necklace. Aw, I can't believe you guys are even listening to this."

"Sokka," Katara said warningly, before turning back to the couple. "It must be fascinating working with gems and knowing what powers they have. Not to mention they're so pretty to look at."

"Yes, it _is_ very interesting," Li Mei said. "There's a gemstone for practically anything you'd ever need. There's a stone for protection from injuries, a stone to help you sort out your emotions, a stone to give you confidence, a stone to bring romance into your life—"

"Really?" Hearing the eagerness in his own voice, Aang flushed and hastily backpedaled. "I, uh, I can't believe there's a stone even for something like that."

"Neither can I," Sokka put in. "This is just a load of—"

"_Sokka_." Katara's voice was dangerously low.

"Oh yes, there is." Li Mei reached into the pocket of her trousers and fished out a coin-sized, pale pink nugget. "Here it is. Rose quartz. The stone of love and romance."

"More like 'the stone for fleecing lovesick idiots of their hard-earned money,'" Sokka sneered.

Katara passed a hand over her eyes. "All right, that's it. Appa, take us down. I think we need a breather."

"What?" Sokka burst out. "Down where? And last time I checked, _I'm_ the one who's steering."

"There's a hill straight ahead, Sokka. We can stop down there for a while and take a break. I really need to stretch my legs. Come on, Appa. Let's go down."

With a grunt, Appa descended. On the ground, Killer squawked but obediently jogged off the road, meeting the bison at the bottom of a gently-rising hill covered with stubby grasses and tiny, white and yellow flowers. Clusters of trees and bamboo marked either side of the top of the hill and the breeze swept through the branches with a soothing, rustling sound, an almost musical sound. Aang gazed around him, breathing deeply. He had to admit, Katara couldn't have picked a nicer place to take a break from flying and relax a bit.

Except that, judging from the fierce frown on Katara's face and the way Sokka was muttering underneath his breath, relaxing appeared to be the farthest thing on his friends' minds.

As the others climbed down, Aang turned to Li Mei, who was sitting very still with her hands folded in her lap. From the stiffness of her pose, he could tell that Sokka's mockery had not gone unnoticed. "We've stopped at the bottom of a hill," he said, trying to inject some cheerfulness in his tone. "Hope you won't mind being late coming home."

Li Mei shook her head. "Not at all, Avatar."

"Um, okay." Aang was saved from further awkwardness by Momo, who darted over and placed the garnet in Li Mei's lap. She gasped in surprise, following the sound of Momo's chittering as he scrambled up Aang to sit on his shoulder. Aang laughed and scratched the lemur behind the head. "Well, Momo definitely likes you, Li Mei. Okay, like I said before, hold on tight."

She gasped again when Aang picked her up and jumped off Appa, setting her beside her grandfather and Killer, who were waiting below. She smiled at Aang gratefully and even though he knew she couldn't see it, he couldn't help but return her smile.

"Aang?"

He turned to see Katara standing beside Sokka. Her ice-blue eyes shifted from him to Li Mei and Grandfather Wang. "I'm really sorry about this," she said to the couple. "Would you excuse us for a minute? The three of us have something we need to talk about. Come on, Aang."

He trailed after the siblings as they walked some distance away, leaving the old man and his granddaughter standing silently beside Appa. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Katara immediately turned to her brother. "All right, Sokka. Tell us what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me."

"Sokka, you've been acting really obnoxious since we met Grandfather Wang and Li Mei, and I want to know why you're doing it."

"Oh yeah? Well, _I_ want to know why you agreed to go to Tai Shen with these people," Sokka retorted. "Can't you see there's something weird about them? How do you know we can trust them?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "Weird about what? An old man and his blind granddaughter? You need to stop being so suspicious of people who are different from you, Sokka, especially people you've just met. You treated Aang the same way the first time you met him, remember?"

Sokka glowered at Aang, who shrugged and grinned helplessly. "Okay, so I was wrong about Aang," he relented. "But I'm not wrong about this one. These two are lying to us. They've been lying to us since the moment we saw them."

Katara crossed her arms. "Let me guess. Your _instincts_ told you this, right?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Sokka countered. "And if you remember, my _instincts_ weren't so far off the mark the last time I thought there was something fishy about somebody we just met."

Katara's gaze wavered, and Aang knew she was thinking about Jet. "I don't know, Sokka. All I know is you're being unbelievably rude to Grandfather Wang and Li Mei, and I can't understand why."

"That's because they're _lying_, Katara!" Sokka yelled in frustration. "As in not being completely honest?"

"Uh, guys?" Aang said.

"What would they have to lie about, Sokka?" Katara's voice had risen as well. "You act as if an old man and a blind girl could actually be a threat to us!"

"Guys, you're getting kind of loud," Aang tried again.

"Why don't you open your eyes and see what's in front of you instead of what you've been made to believe?"

"Why don't you stop being such a cynical jerk?"

"Um, excuse me?"

All three spun around. Both Li Mei and Grandfather Wang were standing behind Aang, with the old man's arm around his granddaughter's. Li Mei gently shook her grandfather's arm off, stepped forward and bowed low. "Please forgive us. We—I never meant to cause any strife among you. Katara, Sokka…Avatar Aang, I humbly ask your forgiveness for whatever it is I have done to offend you."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you went all bullish on them, Li Mei," Grandfather Wang muttered dryly.

Katara waved her hands in front of her. "No, no. We're the ones who have to apologize, Li Mei. Please don't think—"

"Apology accepted," Sokka cut in brusquely.

"Sokka!"

"Now will you _please_ come clean and stop lying to us? It's putting me on edge."

Aang saw the color drain from Li Mei's face and even Grandfather Wang looked slightly guilty, though not at all surprised. "Lying?" Li Mei said faintly.

Sokka threw up his hands. "I mean about being blind. Because you're not, you know."

"_What?_" three voices cried in unison. "H-how did you know?" Li Mei whispered.

"Yeah, Sokka, how _did_ you know?" Aang asked, staring at the older boy.

Sokka smiled for the first time since meeting the old man and the girl. "Easy. When we first found you and your grandfather picking those beads up, I noticed you weren't feeling around on the ground for them, and your hand was moving between the ground and the bag too fast for somebody who can't see her targets. I was actually surprised to find out you were blind. Uh, supposedly, that is. And when Aang left to go rescue Killer, I saw Katara staring after Aang, and her head moved as she followed his flight."

At that Aang shot Katara a curious glance, but she wasn't looking at him now. All her attention was focused upon her brother and his revelations about their new friends.

"You were looking up, too, Li Mei, and your head moved the same way Katara's did. But Aang wasn't talking anymore, so you couldn't have been following his voice," Sokka continued, his voice taking on a distinctly smug tone. "And finally—oh man, I can't believe you guys didn't pick up on the last clue. I was so obvious about it, too," he grumbled to Aang and Katara.

"What clue?" Katara asked.

"You know, when I pretended that a bead had fallen out? Grandfather Wang and Li Mei both began looking around for it. It's a common reflex—if you can _see_. If Li Mei were really blind, she would have known at once that no bead had fallen out because she would have heard it fall if it had. So that led me to believe that not only are you _not_ blind, Li Mei, you can actually see through that blindfold and you're just _acting_ blind," Sokka finished triumphantly.

Stunned silence greeted his last sentence. "Wow, Sokka," Aang finally said. "That was amazing."

"Yeah. I'm impressed," Katara added.

Sokka grinned toothily. "What can I say? I try."

"Very perceptive of you," Grandfather Wang commented. "I never thought I'd ever see anyone figure out Li Mei's secret, and so quickly, too."

Li Mei lowered her head into her hands. "I—I don't know what to say," she quavered. "You're right. Everything you said is true. I—I'm sorry. I never meant to deceive you, I—"

"Hey, listen, why don't you just take that blindfold off?" Sokka said, and Aang was surprised to hear the kindness in his voice, considering his behavior toward the girl just a few minutes ago. "How can you see through that thing anyway?"

"The cloth has silver threads woven into it," Li Mei explained, still making no move to remove her blindfold. "It's actually very thin, but the light bounces off the silver threads and makes the cloth look opaque."

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Oh. That's one expensive blindfold."

"I'm so sorry," Li Mei whispered, sounding close to tears.

Katara moved to lay her hands comfortingly on Li Mei's shoulder. "It's okay, Li Mei. We're not really offended. Just…surprised, I guess. I know you must have a good reason to go around pretending to be blind. You can take the blindfold off now. We won't give away your secret."

Li Mei flinched away from Katara. "No, I can't. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?"

Li Mei took another step back, on the verge of panicking. "I can't take off the blindfold…I can't let you see…you're the _Avatar, _and—"

She was stopped by her grandfather's arm at her back. She glanced at him and took a shuddering breath. "You must trust them, Li Mei," he said quietly. "Trust in the Avatar. You will have to, you know."

Her blindfolded eyes flew toward Aang, and he thought he could almost feel the force of her stare through the white cloth. Then she bent her head again. "Yes, Grandfather," she said meekly.

Grandfather Wang nodded, then stepped in front of his granddaughter, gazing evenly at the trio. "Before she does, I want to show you something." He reached up and poked a hand into his pyramid of hair. He felt around for a moment, then with a pleased grin pulled something shiny out of the wiry mass. "Very handy for keeping precious things, this hair of mine," he said upon noticing the startled expressions of the Avatar and his friends. "That's a good reason to never get it cut, if you ask me. Now then, here."

He tossed the object in the air and Aang caught it reflexively. The object turned out to be a small gold band with a pattern of vines etched upon its surface. Its simple elegance made it a worthy match for the gemstones. "Uh, it's a ring," Aang said, hoping nobody, by whom he meant Sokka, would make any arch comments about his stating the obvious.

"It's lovely," Katara said. "I don't get to see jewelry made of yellow gold a lot. Why do you keep it in your hair, Grandfather Wang? Don't you want to wear it?"

Grandfather Wang turned aside with a sniff. "It's too big for my fingers. The ring keeps falling off. The goldsmith who created that ring forgot the fundamental practice of getting the wearer's correct ring size. Still, for a first attempt, it isn't all that bad."

"Goldsmith?" Sokka echoed, frowning. "I've never heard of a goldsmith or any other metalsmith in the Earth Kingdom. Only the Fire Nation works with…"

The old man saw the dawning realization upon their faces and nodded again. Aang, Katara and Sokka turned as one toward Li Mei, who was still standing half-hidden behind her grandfather. She raised a hand, pulled off her blindfold and lifted her face.

Almond-shaped, slightly bloodshot eyes stared miserably at them. Almond-shaped eyes the color of pale amber.

This time, it was Sokka who stated the obvious.

"You're a _firebender_!"

_(To Be Continued…)_

* * *

_Author's Notes:_

_INCONSISTENCY ALERT: About Katara's pendant. When I was writing this chapter, I checked out a picture of Katara's pendant to see if it looks like any stone I've seen during my research. The picture I saw, an extreme frontal, made it look as if it was three-dimensional. But when I saw the necklace again from another angle, the darned thing turned out to be flat as a disk. However, I'd already finished the chapter by then, and when I tried removing the part about her pendant, the dialogue didn't quite have same intensity. So unless cat's eye apatite can be cut into disk-shape (and if there are any gemologists out there, PLEASE tell me you can cut apatite as flat as a disk), I have made a bit of a boo-boo regarding her necklace, for which I apologize. I also ask you to just ignore it (sustaining disbelief might help). I promise, it won't make much of an impact in the story, anyway._

_Once again, thank you so much to all those who read and reviewed. This chapter took a bit longer than expected and I'm still not sure about its overall quality. (Sigh.) And thanks too to Pen to Paper, N1cindyfan,Scorpiored112 (for being somebody I can look up to, garret or not), me-obviously (for the really helpful tip about the Mary Sue--see, I already changed the initial AN ;), Mage of Swords (who is an old friend), Niana Kuonji (who loves sparkly things), Sasscreech, darktank, LadyMeister, etc. etc. you get the picture. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me keep this going, despite the fact that I haven't seen any more episodes and don't know if my fic still makes sense.  
_


	5. Chapter 5

V

Later, Katara would recall the moments that followed her brother's pronouncement with a mixture of shame, remorse and a sweet sort of pride. The only way she could explain it was that she had been caught off-guard. The sight of those pale yellow eyes staring at her from the face of a person she had thought was harmless came as a shock. The other times she had seen eyes like that flashed through her mind: Zuko stalking her, trying to force her to betray Aang, coming at her relentlessly as she fought to protect the young Avatar; Admiral Zhao and his chilling smile; Fire Nation soldiers bent on destroying her people, destroying her and Sokka and capturing Aang at all cost. A single thought shot through the haze of disorientation like quicksilver—an animalistic thought, one that bubbled up directly from the murkiest depths of her mind.

_Enemy._

She shrank away from Li Mei before she could stop herself, and from the corner of her eye she could see her consternation mirrored in her brother's face. The whole thing must have happened in less than two seconds, but it was enough. Li Mei saw their reactions and wilted, and Katara was torn between the desire to reassure the other girl and the more primal urge to grab Aang and Sokka and run.

"Oh. I guess I can see why you'd want to go around with that blindfold over your eyes. It's okay, though. You don't have to wear that around us anymore."

Her wide-eyed stare shifted from Li Mei to Aang. _How can he be so calm about this? Doesn't he realize…?_

Rationality returned to her with a jolt, accompanied by a hot rush of chagrin and embarrassment. By the spirits, what was she doing? Was she really so quick to judge a person just by the color of her eyes?

"You—you don't mind?" Li Mei asked, obviously surprised by Aang's easy acceptance of the fact that she belonged to the race that was constantly trying to imprison him, kill his friends and wreak havoc upon the balance of the world.

"No, I think it's great," Aang said with genuine pleasure. "I might not look it but I'm actually a hundred and twelve years old, and I remember how it was before this war with the Fire Nation began. I know things don't always have to be the way they are now, and seeing you with Grandfather Wang just makes me even surer of it. Besides," he added with a lopsided grin, "you're not the first firebender we've met who wasn't trying to roast us where we stood, although I have to admit, those kinds are pretty rare. Remember Shyu and Master Jeong-Jeong?"

He glanced first at Katara then at Sokka as he said this, his gray eyes bright and innocent. _Too_ innocent, and Katara suddenly realized that Aang knew what she and her brother were thinking, and not only were his words meant to reassure Li Mei and Grandfather Wang, it was also his own, gentle way of reminding her and Sokka that people were much more than the labels imposed upon them. A relieved smile spread over Li Mei's face while Grandfather Wang bobbed his head in approval. Aang's grin grew wider, and Katara felt something tender and fragile unfurl somewhere inside her chest. She had always known that Aang was a good person. How could she not when it was right there, shining from his eyes? He was kind and brave and strong enough to take on the burden of the world upon his young shoulders, and despite everything that had been done to him, he still saw the best in people, no matter who they were. She had always known that—and yet, sometimes it took something like this to remind her how special Aang really was.

In so many ways, he was a much better person than she was. It was a humbling thought, and she was a little surprised to find that she did not resent it. Instead, it made her want to protect him all the more, to keep him close to her…to keep him safe.

But Aang would never truly be safe, would he? He was the Avatar and in him the world would find sanctuary, but there was no sanctuary for the Avatar himself.

She shook herself mentally, brushing aside her morose thoughts, and gave Li Mei a real smile this time. "Aang's right about the firebenders. We even once took care of a Fire Nation baby who'd gotten separated from his parents. It's just that every other firebender we've met were so clearly, well, firebenders. You know, not one of us." She let some of the guilt she was feeling creep into her tone, deciding that she owed the other girl that much. "I'm sorry. We've never met a firebender who could so easily pass for an Earth Kingdom citizen before. It took us by surprise."

"Yeah," Sokka added weakly. "By the way, not much of a family resemblance between the two of you, huh?"

Li Mei and Grandfather Wang exchanged glances. "It's a long story," she said at last. "The short version of it is that I came from one of the occupied towns in the north. I ran away two years ago and had been wandering around half-starved when Grandfather Wang found me and took me to Tai Shen. I've been with him ever since."

"Why'd you run away?" Aang asked.

"I…committed a crime against the Fire Nation."

Katara tried to imagine the polite, somewhat timid girl violently assaulting someone or pulling off a robbery, and failed. "What crime was that?"

"Treason." Li Mei's smile turned faintly ironic. "I freed some Earth Kingdom prisoners accused of being spies for the resistance. The Fire Nation authorities weren't too happy about it."

All three of them stared. That certainly wasn't what they'd expected. Li Mei sighed and waved a hand dismissively. "That's all in the past, and I will never return to the Fire Nation again for as long as this war continues. Tai Shen is my home now, and Grandfather Wang and the others are my family. I may have been born in the Fire Nation, but I've chosen to be a citizen of the Earth Kingdom, and that's how I will remain for as long as I live."

The words were passionate, even overdramatic, but Li Mei's voice remained steady and matter-of-fact, as though she were reporting a simple truth instead of what must have been a momentous decision for her. Looking into the clear amber eyes, Katara found that she believed her. "Sounds like you had an interesting life, and I hope some day we can get to hear the long version of your story," she said with warm sincerity. "But whatever it was that happened to you, I'm glad we met you, Li Mei. I just wish we could meet a lot more firebenders like you."

Sokka chuckled. "Yeah. All we keep getting is the other kind."

"The other kind?"

"The roast-us-where-we-stand kind," Aang quipped, falling in on the joke. "_That_ kind gets really annoying after some time."

"And deadly dull," Katara added with a giggle.

"Not to mention exhausting and—" Sokka stopped abruptly as his stomach took the opportunity to gurgle as loudly as it could.

Katara grinned teasingly. "Gee, Sokka, has it really been that long since break—oops." Her own face turned red when the gurgle from Sokka's stomach was echoed by her own.

Aang laughed outright. "Guess you guys were serious about looking for food a while back." His eyes went wide when a third gurgle was heard, and his hand lifted to clutch at his stomach. "Oookay, whatever it is you've got, it's catching. Anybody know where we can get any _lichi_ nuts around here?"

Li Mei and her grandfather, who had been watching their banter with fascination, exchanged amused glances. "All right, I know a hint when I hear one," Grandfather Wang said dryly. "We're here, anyway, so I hope you three can hold out a little longer. And speaking of nuts, Momo had better return those 'nuts' he pinched or I won't be responsible for the bellyache he's going get."

"Here where? You mean there's food on this hill?" Sokka asked, puzzled.

"What Grandfather meant was that we're in Tai Shen," Li Mei clarified.

Sokka glanced around at the grass and trees. "Looks a bit…rustic, doesn't it?"

"No, not this place." She pointed toward the hill. "Beyond this hill is Tai Shen. We're really very close."

Sokka perked up considerably. "Great! Let's get going. I thought I heard something about stir-fry noodles and sweet and sour tofu a while back. Any chance of bumping that up to lunch instead of dinner?"

Li Mei laughingly agreed, and Katara rolled her eyes at her brother's cheek. The tension between Li Mei and Sokka seemed to have dissipated, and the relief Katara felt was like a breath of fresh air. As she followed the others toward Appa, her gaze fell upon Aang who was walking in front of her, her eyes absently tracing the blue line of his tattoo as it flowed down his head and dipped into his collar. He must have felt her staring at him, because he glanced over his shoulder at her curiously. His gray eyes collided with hers with a jolt that she felt all the way down to her toes, and she nearly stumbled in surprise.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm okay. Just a little hungry," she replied, pressing an arm across her middle in an effort to calm the mysterious flock of butterflies that had taken flight.

He smiled, which only seemed to make the butterflies worse. "Yeah, me too. I wonder if there's a gemstone to ease off hunger pangs."

"Don't let Li Mei hear you say that," she said, feeling proud of how normal she sounded. "She'd probably tell us there _is_ a stone for something like that."

"You're right, there is."

Aang jumped back with a yelp when Li Mei's eager face suddenly appeared in front of him. The young goldsmith lifted a lecturing finger. "Jasper is known to help with digestive problems and other similar sicknesses, as well as soothe away mental stresses. And those peridot beads Grandfather showed you earlier are also known to aid in digestion—"

"Hey you down there," Sokka called from the saddle. "If you take any longer, we're going to take off without you and you can _walk_ to Tai Shen."

"Li Mei, what did I say about being bullish on people?" Grandfather Wang admonished.

Li Mei flushed and lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Grandfather. I was just telling them about the power of jasper and peridot to help with digestive problems."

Sokka groaned. "The only way any stone is going to help with _my_ digestive problem is if I _eat_ it. Get up here already."

Nodding obediently, Li Mei gave Killer a comforting pat on the neck and pulled herself up into the saddle. Aang was about to jump on top of Appa's head when he was stopped by Katara's hand on his shoulder. "Listen, Aang, I just want you to know…" She trailed off, wondering why she was suddenly finding it so difficult to tell him what was on her mind. "I just want to tell you…I thought you were great back there. With Li Mei being a firebender, I mean."

Aang's face lit up in a way that struck her as sweet, as though he thought a simple compliment from her was worth all the accolades he received as the Avatar. "You think so?"

"Mm-hm." She smiled and reached down to give his hand a squeeze. "And thanks…for what you said. I guess we—_I_ needed to hear that."

He shook his head. "It was nothing you didn't already know, Katara."

"Right. Sure, Aang," she said good-humoredly. "You can brush me off as much as you like, but I'll still think you're a really great guy." She released him, thinking that that was the end of the conversation, but his fingers tightened around hers, trapping her hand in a warm grip.

"Thanks," he said softly. "Katara, I—ow!"

He spun around, rubbing the sore spot on his head where the sparkling missile had hit him. Sokka was sitting up in the saddle looking pleased with himself, while Li Mei clapped both hands over her mouth—out of shock that somebody would dare treat the Avatar so offhandedly or to keep from laughing, Katara couldn't be sure. Aang shot the older boy a wounded look. "What was _that_ for, Sokka?"

Sokka pointed at Appa's head. "Aang, get up here and fly this monster. I've just heard that there's a chance of a feast in our honor waiting for us in Tai Shen, and you should know never to get between a warrior and the possibilities of a feast."

"Well, somebody had better fetch that gemstone this young idiot just threw away," Grandfather Wang announced huffily, "because I ain't so sure you can afford to replace it."

Under the guise of picking up the stone, Katara took the chance to suck in a few deep breaths and slow her heart rate down. What _was_ that back there? She had nearly just had a heart attack, and all because Aang was _holding her hand_? She must be a great deal hungrier than she thought if something like that could rattle her so much. She nodded decisively. Yes, that certainly explained why she'd been feeling so…so weird all day. These spells of lightheadedness, the heightened awareness, the strange thoughts in her head…hunger and sleep deprivation, that's what they were. This trip to Tai Shen was exactly what she needed to feel like herself again.

She focused on the stone in her hand and blushed. And glared. It was the lapis lazuli, the stone of friendship and truth. The blue and gold lump seemed to glitter mockingly at her.

"I got it," she muttered. She climbed up Appa and handed the stone back to Grandfather Wang just as Aang took the reins.

"Appa, yip-yip!"

_Some food and a good night's sleep_, she thought, staring sightlessly at the shifting scenery, far too aware of the slim, saffron-clad form sitting just three feet away from her. Come tomorrow, the nagging little voice inside her head would have faded away, and everything would return to normal.

She sighed. _Or so I hope_.

o – o – o – o – o

The little town of Tai Shen lay in a bed of velvety hills adorned with a lacework of trees and bamboo groves. The stream they had more or less abandoned when they met up with Grandfather Wang and Li Mei reappeared and wound itself around the town's borders in a way couldn't have been completely natural, forming a band of sparkling blue around the edges of town. The town itself was a perfect octagon, with red-roofed houses and buildings forming neat rows that faced the center of the town, which was marked by a round, shimmering pond. Sun-baked streets divided the town into eight equal segments, while just behind the houses on the outermost edges was a large, interconnecting garden that formed a ring between the town and the stream. White and purple azalea shrubs mingled with gracefully swaying bamboo and wintersweet trees with sprays of pink blossoms, and cairnstones sat amongst patches of red and white peonies and chrysanthemums of every color imaginable. The mountain rose majestically just beyond, and the clouds from its summit cast shifting shadows upon the landscape so that the town appeared to be glimmering in the sunlight. As the flying bison drew closer, Katara found herself leaning over the saddle and gasping with wonder while Sokka squeezed in beside her, trying and failing to keep his own jaw from dropping.

"Wow, is that Tai Shen?" Aang asked, letting the reins go slack in his hands as he craned his neck to take in the view.

"Yes, that's our home down there," Li Mei said proudly.

"It's beautiful," Katara breathed. "From up here, it looks just like a pendant. Or a brooch."

"And what did you think it would look like? A clump of anthills sprouting out of the ground?" Grandfather Wang said with a sniff.

Li Mei was quick to translate. "What Grandfather would like to say is that many of the townsfolk are jewelers, and nobody worships beauty the way a jeweler does. Times are hard, but we've done our best to keep our town looking presentable."

"Well, whatever it is you're doing seems to be working," Katara said. "Tai Shen is gorgeous."

"It's not bad," Sokka remarked with studied indifference.

"I bet it looks even better up close," Aang said eagerly. "Come on, Appa. It's time for our grand entrance."

Appa grunted in response and began to spiral downward the center of the town. A sizeable crowd had already gathered beside the pond, squinting and pointing upward at the strange sight of a white, six-legged bison descending in their midst. As Appa landed, Katara got her first good look at the inhabitants of Tai Shen. They appeared to consist mostly of women, although she did see several elderly men and children whose ages ranged between infanthood to fourteen years. The oldest boy was a gangly, messy-haired kid just a year older than Aang. Their clothes were similar to those worn by every other Earth Kingdom citizen they had come across—loose-fitting pants, high-collared shirts, robes and kimonos in shades of brown, beige or green. Every single person, however, seemed to be wearing at least one piece of jewelry—shiny beads embroidered upon a shirt or robe, a bead necklace, a pair of earrings, hairpins studded with tiny stones, a belt of interlocked copper rings, bracelets made of leather strips interwoven with differently colored beads. Even the babies in their mothers' arms wore tiny bead bracelets and anklets. The entire crowd seemed to glitter and Katara was glad she was wearing her mother's necklace, which kept her from feeling as though she were underdressed, although just barely.

Li Mei and Grandfather Wang were already climbing out of the saddle before anyone else could make a move. The trio watched in fascination as Li Mei hugged several of the women and children who crowded around her, her face bright with joy. It was amazing how the young firebender seemed to fit right in, and for a moment Katara caught a glimpse of the world as Aang remembered it, a way of life before war made enemies of people who might otherwise have been friends. She slanted a look at the young Avatar and saw the barest hint of wistfulness in his smile. She bit her lip, fighting down the urge to touch him, to tell him that the world he had known wasn't completely lost yet. She had already begun to reach out to him when she caught herself and pulled her hand back, cradling it to her chest. Maybe later, she would tell him. Just not right now. Not when she was still feeling…not herself.

Aang glanced at her and she quickly averted her gaze, hoping he wouldn't notice her discomfiture. Fortunately, her brother's dubious instinct for good timing proved itself useful once again. "It's incredible," Sokka murmured. "It's like nobody even notices she's a firebender. She's just this ordinary Earth Kingdom girl who happens to have weird-colored eyes."

Aang turned back toward Li Mei and Katara breathed a silent sigh of relief, deciding that she would do something nice for her brother before the day ended. "Maybe we should go down there and introduce ourselves," she suggested. "People are starting to stare at us."

As they climbed down, the crowd parted to make way for two new figures, one of which turned out to be Killer, squawking happily at being home again. The other newcomer was a woman who stood a good foot taller than Sokka and a couple of feet wider as well. A handsome woman still, she could have either been a young-looking eighty-year-old or a sixty-year-old who was mature for her age. She wore a simple, light brown gown and a cream-colored outer robe tied with a wide sash, but the plainness of her clothes were only meant to call attention to the stunning triple-strand green jade necklace hanging around her neck and the cluster of smaller jades attached to her earlobes. Her gray hair was swept up into a perfect loop on the top of her head, held in place by more strands of jade. She walked with her head held high and her hands clasped inside the wide sleeves of her robe, trailing from which were Killer's reins. As she moved past them, members of the crowd would bow and smile with a mixture of affection and respect, but the woman's steely hazel eyes were fixed solely upon one person.

And like an animal sensing the approach of a predator, Grandfather Wang slowly turned, the lines of his face drooping with dread.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You!"

"Erp!" the old man squeaked, scuttling behind Li Mei.

The crowd retreated some more as woman circled him, Killer trotting contentedly behind her. In a display of good sense, Li Mei discreetly but forcibly pried her grandfather's fingers off her tunic and moved out of the line of fire. "Hmph. When I found _this_ old bird scratching at my door, I knew the _other_ old bird shouldn't be too far behind," the woman said in a tone as pointed as any iceberg Katara could make. "Of course, I'd been expecting to see _both _old birds at my door much, _much_ earlier. Well? What do you have to say for yourself, Wang?"

"I, uh—"

"Did something happen to you on your way here? You didn't get yourself and young Li Mei into some kind of _trouble_, did you?"

"Well, I wouldn't say—"

"Something that wouldn't have happened if you'd gone and hired someone to help you with deliveries like I'd been telling you, _am I right_?"

Grandfather Wang drew himself up. "Now listen here, you bossy old biddy—mmff!"

He never got a chance to finish as the woman swept him up in a bone-creaking hold, pulling him so deeply into her ample bosom that all they could see of him were bits of his clothes and his bushy hair. Katara pressed a hand to her mouth, wondering if she ought to jump in and rescue the old man from the stranglehold the woman had on him. On either side of her, she could see identical expressions of shock and alarm on the faces of her two companions.

Noticing their confusion, Li Mei crept toward them and smiled reassuringly. "That's Grandma Sorab. She's the unofficial matriarch of our town and the closest thing to a mayor that we have. Oh, and she's also a fabulous jeweler, in case you're wondering."

Sokka pointed at the couple. "Shouldn't we help your grandfather? I think he's turning blue."

Li Mei giggled. "Oh, don't let those two fool you. Grandma Sorab and Grandfather Wang are really madly in love with each other. In fact, they're going to be married two days from now."

Katara didn't think her own eyes could get any wider without her eyeballs popping out of their sockets, and if she hadn't been so floored by the news she'd have burst out laughing at the way Aang and Sokka both had their jaws scraping the ground. "Married?" she croaked, struggling to piece together a mental image of the crusty old jeweler and the regal-looking matron—the blushing bride five times the size of the groom—dressed in ceremonial wedding robes and drinking out of the same cup and sneaking loving glances at each other while exchanging vows and, oh heavens, even sharing a kiss. Judging from the constipated look on Sokka's face, she knew he was attempting the same thing with even less success.

"That's, uh, great," Aang stammered, sounding as though he couldn't quite believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. "Congratulations to the happy couple."

Just then, Grandma Sorab released Grandfather Wang from her embrace and turned toward the trio. As one, Katara, Aang and Sokka leaned away from the stiletto gaze. The grand old woman advanced toward them while Li Mei darted past her to catch Grandfather Wang just as his knees gave out. Katara and Sokka both moved to stand behind Aang, who arranged his features into an expression of jovial harmlessness. "Hey, there," he called nervously. "Um, nice to meet you."

Li Mei thrust her grandfather's limp form at one of the other men and jogged over to them. "Grandma Sorab, I would like you to meet—"

"—the Avatar and his companions," Grandma Sorab stated, her penciled eyebrows sweeping upward.

"Er, yes. They were the ones who—"

"—rescued you and your grandfather from those Fire Nation soldiers who waylaid you. I know."

Aang blinked. "How did you know that?"

Grandma Sorab smiled coolly. "Those soldiers came here first, banging on our doors and demanding a new kind of tax from us. The unofficial kind, I believe. We refused to give them anything of value, and they were rather put out to leave here empty-handed. I thought that anyone running into them would have a difficult time of it, and I knew Wang and Li Mei planned to come home today."

"No offence, but how did you manage to get rid of those soldiers without giving them anything?" Katara wondered. "I mean, just looking at you now, I can see at least half-a-dozen things I'd love to walk away with."

The crowd exchanged amused glances. "These trinkets we're wearing are made of cheap glass and wires, miss," one old-timer called out, pulling on the collar of his robe to show off his necklaces. "They only figured it out when they were some distance from the town, but by then it was too late for them to turn back. As if we would ever surrender our lovelies to those barbarians." His declaration was followed by several enthusiastic "yeahs" and "we sure showed them."

Katara's gaze drifted toward the necklace around Grandma Sorab's neck. "Is that glass, too?"

"Certainly not." Grandma Sorab lifted her hands, causing the jade necklace to levitate several inches from her bosom. "I never wear glass. Any imitation, even a good one, is nothing but dishonesty in frozen form, and only truth can be beautiful. These beads are Imperial jade through and through."

"Okay, but how did you know we rescued Grandfather Wang and Li Mei?" Katara persisted.

Grandma Sorab sighed. "Do you see him weeping with rage and cursing the gods? No, which means he managed not to lose anything important. And the only way that silly old bird would be able to extricate himself out of any trouble would be if somebody bailed him out of it."

"I resent that!" Grandfather Wang bawled from the audience but was mostly ignored.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "So if you knew what happened all along, then what's with the interrogation?"

Grandma Sorab suddenly threw her head back and laughed, the years seeming to fall away from her. "Ah, well. Appearances can be very useful, young water-tribe warrior, especially when it comes to dealing with stubborn men," she said with girlish mischief. "I've been trying for years to get my fiancé to part with some of his precious money and hire a bodyguard to help with deliveries. There is a point to be made here, and so I did. It is a woman's way."

Katara and Li Mei glanced at each other and giggled while Sokka frowned, certain that he and the other members of his sex had just been slighted but wasn't exactly sure how. Grandma Sorab smiled again, the expression transforming her face from severe and intimidating to motherly and filled with humor. "On behalf of Tai Shen, I welcome you, Avatar, to our humble town." She bowed, a motion that the rest of the crowd followed. When she raised her head, the coy playfulness was once again twinkling in her eyes. "And on behalf of this humble bride-to-be, I thank you for returning my fiancé and future granddaughter to me safe and sound."

At this, the crowd broke into wild cheering and swarmed around Aang, Katara and Sokka. Grandma Sorab stood serenely, a stately reef amidst the tide of people, and managed to quiet the crowd just be raising her hand. "Please, allow us to offer our gratitude to you and your companions with a feast tonight in your honor. Of course, it goes without saying that you are welcome to stay here for as long as you like."

The cheering began again, this time joined in by an enthusiastic Sokka. "Yeah! Now _that's_ what I want to hear!" he whooped, all thoughts of veiled insults against the male of the species completely eclipsed by thoughts of impending gastronomic indulgence.

Katara shook her head at her brother's antics, while Aang bowed back to Grandma Sorab. "Thanks for taking us in. My name is Aang, and these are my friends Katara and Sokka. The little guy trying to steal that lady's headpiece is Momo, and this big guy behind us is Appa."

"It is you who honors us, Avatar Aang," Grandma Sorab replied. "And please call me Grandma Sorab. If there is anything at all we can do for you…"

Katara, who was beginning to see where Li Mei got her painfully good manners, was surprised when Aang actually looked as though he was considering it. "Well, there _is_ something you can do for us," he admitted sheepishly, rubbing his stomach. "Do you have any food? I'm starving!"

o – o – o – o – o

The trio quickly discovered the downside to being considered the town's newest celebrities. Before Grandma Sorab could act upon Aang's appeal for food, the excited townsfolk swept them up and took them on an extended tour of Tai Shen. A plump, middle-aged woman named Soe took charge with the kind of bustling purpose and relentlessness Katara had only before associated with an armada of Fire Nation battleships. The three were hustled off from one house to another, one building to the next, and were introduced to the occupants of each by the voluble Soe, who went on to regale everyone with the tale of how the three had rescued Grandfather Wang and Li Mei from the Fire Nation soldiers, a tale that grew more and more embellished with each house they visited. Katara lost count of the number of times Soe presented Aang as the Avatar in the glowing, awestruck tones of one who believed herself in the presence of a god and clearly expected everyone else to share her sentiments. It was a testament to the young airbender's endurance that he managed to keep smiling and waving throughout the ordeal even though Katara clearly heard his stomach growling several times. When she noticed him hunching over and rubbing his aching cheeks in between introductions, she couldn't resist giving his shoulder a comforting pat. He managed to give her a grateful look before Soe reappeared and whisked him off to yet another household.

Katara herself wasn't spared the crowd's attention. To the beauty-worshipping people of Tai Shen, Katara's cocoa skin and ice-blue eyes appeared exotic and lovely, and she found herself constantly surrounded by a flock of admiring girls and women who cooed and fussed over her hair, her skin, her figure, her mother's necklace, even her water-tribe robes. It was flattering at first, but Katara soon grew tired of having to explain again and again that her hairstyle was traditional among the women of the water-tribe and far from unique, and that yes, she would be glad to show the other women how it was done.

It was Sokka, though, who suffered the most. Although he did receive his fair share of coy looks and flirtatious giggles from the girls, he was much too hungry and dismayed by events to properly enjoy the attention. It didn't help that every household they visited offered them food—a plate of dumplings, a bowl of noodles, a tray of freshly steamed sweet-buns—but before Sokka could pounce on it, Soe would jump between him and his quarry and shake her finger disapprovingly. "Oh no, not this poor fare for our honored guests," she would say in a voice that brooked no challenge. "You wouldn't want to spoil your appetite for the feast tonight, would you?"

And inevitably the host would laugh and agree and put the food away while promising their guests that they would be served better during the feast. By the end of the tour, Sokka's face was as gaunt and tormented as any of the Fire Lord's victims and any minute now, Katara felt certain, her brother would topple gently to the ground and burst into tears.

Word about the feast spread quickly throughout the town and with it, the warning that the Avatar and his companions were not to be fed anything until then. At least, Katara figured that that was the reason why, when Soe brought them to the marketplace and showed them off as if they were her prized fillies, none of the stall owners would sell them anything to eat. Nearly seeing double from hunger herself, she had had to physically restrain her brother before he broke down and snatched something right off a food stand, thereby reducing their status from honored guests to petty criminals. Two hours after their arrival in Tai Shen, only Momo had gotten anything to eat. The lemur had gorged himself on the nuts and fruits the delighted children offered him, and when Katara caught Aang trying to get Momo to sponge a nut from the children for him, she raised an eyebrow at him until he clasped his hands behind his back and shuffled away from Momo, grinning innocently.

The grueling tour came to an end when Soe finally escorted the exhausted, ravenous trio to a small house at the edge of the town. Although the house appeared to be deserted, it was in pristine condition. The doors had fresh, white rice paper pasted upon their frames and slid silently in their grooves, the wooden floor was polished to a near mirror-like shine, and for some reason the faint scent of jasmine and roses pursued them no matter which corner they went. The house was a one-room affair and there were no partitions or screens anywhere that could provide a modicum of privacy. An ornate, black cabinet sat against one wall opposite a small, tiered shrine that featured a cluster of crystals, while a low, intricately carved table stood in the center with a couple of cushions to provide a place to sit on. There were a few small paintings hanging upon the walls, but what dominated the place was the soft, cozy-looking sleeping rug set in one corner and covered with more plump cushions. The rug looked large enough to fit two people. Small pots of crystals were placed around strategic corners, and even the lamp hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the house consisted of a wide brass dish decorated with more clusters of crystals.

When Soe finally left them after cheerfully but pointedly instructing them to rest and refresh themselves before the feast began, Sokka stumbled over to the rug and collapsed upon it, burying his head in the cushions. "I never want to go through that again," he groaned. "I'd rather eat colored rocks for the rest of my life than go through _anything_ like that again. That was sheer torture!"

Aang airlifted himself up on a window sill and halfheartedly stirred a wind chime hanging above him with a small gust of air. Katara examined the paintings, which at first glance had looked like graceful renditions of branches and flowers done in ink, but upon closer inspection turned out to be illustrations of...something far more suggestive than branches and flowers. Blushing madly, she took a step back and looked around again. A house barely bigger than a bed chamber, a table with two cushions, a sleeping rug fit for two… "Oh my gosh," she gasped, her eyes wide.

Aang looked over at her. "What's the matter, Katara?"

"I—I don't think this place is a guest house at all." She knelt beside the rug where Sokka lay as though he never intended to move again, and reached out to touch it. The rug felt unbelievably fluffy, and her fingers sank into it with tempting ease. She snatched her hand back, her blush deepening until she felt sure her face was lighting up the room.

"Then what kind of house is it? It doesn't look like anyone actually lives here," Aang commented, looking around curiously.

She found herself unable to meet his innocent gray eyes and inwardly cursed Soe for even bringing them anywhere near this—this cozy little nest. "I just don't think we're supposed to be here," she muttered. "Maybe we'll be better off camping out in the gardens."

Sokka lifted his face from the cushions just enough to roll his eyes at her. "Are you kidding? You'd rather sleep on cold, hard ground than stay here? On that note, I just have to say that this here is the snuggliest rug I've ever laid down in. I think we should take this with us when we leave. We could claim it as a souvenir. What do you say?"

She was saved from having to make a reply by the sound of footsteps outside. The door slid aside and Li Mei tiptoed in, making shushing motions with one hand when Aang opened his mouth to greet her. "Hello," she half-whispered. "How do you like our honeymoon house?"

"Honeymoon house?" Aang echoed, one eyebrow arching upward.

Li Mei smiled. "Oh yes. This is where Grandfather Wang and Grandma Sorab will stay right after their wedding."

There was a tiny beat of silence, then with a screech Sokka shot out of the rug so fast he looked as though he'd been bended out of it. In an instant he was plastered against the opposite wall, eyes so wide the blues were nearly drowned out by the whites, mouth gaping in a silent scream of horror. Li Mei and Aang looked at him in puzzlement while Katara swallowed a laugh, caught between smug amusement and sympathy for her brother. She smiled to herself, finally deciding upon the good deed she would do for Sokka: she would nobly and selflessly refrain from teasing him about wanting to take the snuggly conjugal rug with him as a souvenir. It was a favor that ought to be good for a lifetime.

"It's perfect," she said to Li Mei. "Very…comfortable."

Okay, maybe she could tease him a _little_ bit.

Aang airbended off the window sill and joined Katara and Li Mei at the table while they waited for Sokka to unfreeze himself from the wall. "Katara's right, though. If you guys are going to use this place two days from now, then maybe we should stay somewhere else," he said.

Li Mei waved her hands. "Oh no, no, it was Grandma Sorab herself who ordered that you be housed here. This is the best house in our town and it's only right that we offer it to the Avatar and his friends. We can always do a quick touch-up before Grandfather and Grandma come here after the ceremony."

"Eeep," Sokka mewled, still lost in his own private world of unspeakable imaginings.

"Anyway, I'm not really supposed to be doing this, but after seeing what you three had just been through, I thought you might need these." Li Mei brought her other hand out and placed a dish upon the table.

"Rice balls!" Aang cried, a fluffy white ball already halfway to his mouth.

Katara reached eagerly for a rice ball, only to have her hand knocked aside by Sokka's. Her brother managed to down two rice balls before she'd even bitten into hers. "Glad to see you've recovered your strength," she told him wryly. He gave her a withering look, his mouth too full of rice ball to form a reply.

"So what makes this the best house in Tai Shen?" Aang asked conversationally. "Every other house we'd been to looked just as nice to me. Some were even bigger."

At this, Li Mei stood up, walked over to the other side of the room and pulled the back door open, revealing the house's portion of the garden. Morning rose bushes and shrubs of jasmine peeked shyly over the house's upraised floor, and large cobblestones formed a pathway that led across the garden and toward a charming wooden bridge that spanned the stream. "On this side of the mountain is a small cave that has some wonderful hot springs," Li Mei explained. "This house happens to have the shortest, most direct path toward the hot springs, and according to our town's tradition, anyone using the honeymoon house gets to have exclusive rights to the hot springs for the duration of a week. In two days' time, that would be my grandfather and Grandma Sorab—"

Sokka choked on a rice ball, prompting Katara to give him a brief warning glare.

"—but while you're here, I suppose that would be you," Li Mei finished brightly.

Katara immediately cheered up. "Hot springs? Now _that's_ good news."

"I could show it to you right now so the three of you can bathe and refresh yourselves for the feast tonight."

"Yeah, Soe said something like that, too," Sokka mumbled around his fifth rice ball. "What's with all this 'refresh yourself' stuff? It's only dinner at somebody's house, right? I think we're refreshed enough for that."

All eyes shifted toward his dusty, travel-stained clothing, and Li Mei visibly winced. "Maybe I should have explained it better," she said apologetically. "You see, a feast in Tai Shen is not just a simple dinner. It's a chance for us to show off a bit. There'll be entertainment and speeches and singing and dancing, and everybody will be all dressed up in their finery so they can parade their latest creations and designs in front of everybody else. It's a convenient excuse for some friendly competition. There will also be—well, I guess you'll find out later tonight."

"You mean everybody will be all dressed up?" Katara grew faintly queasy, her mind already sorting through their rather limited choice of wardrobe. When the three of them had set off on their journey, packing along a dressy outfit for special occasions was not exactly high on their list of priorities.

"This is all I have to wear." Aang patted his orange and saffron clothing.

"Oh, you don't have to worry," Li Mei reassured him. "Grandma Sorab already had some outfits sent to our house for you to choose from. Also, the two of you will be wearing a couple of new creations by my grandfather and Grandma. That is, if you don't mind." She addressed this to both Aang and Sokka.

Sokka grimaced. "You want Aang and me to wear some kind of girly _jewelry_?"

"Oh no, of course not!" Li Mei looked affronted by the idea. "There's a line of jewelry especially designed for men, and _that's_ what you're going to wear tonight."

"Oh, great. That's a relief."

As Sokka's sarcastic comment tapered off into sulky muttering, Katara looked over at Li Mei, trying not to pout. "What about me?"

Li Mei twisted her hands together nervously. "To tell you the truth, that's the other reason why I'm here, Katara: to ask you if you'd be willing to wear some of _my_ work tonight. I swear I've gotten better at it since the ring Grandfather showed you," she added as she reached into her pocket. "In fact, I have one of the pieces right here."

She carefully drew out a shiny object and offered it to Katara. It was a silver tiara, with delicate, petal-like arches surrounding a clear blue stone in the center. Like the gold ring, it was simple yet elegant, and Katara drew in a breath. "It's beautiful!"

The young goldsmith beamed with pride. "Thank you. That's sterling silver, by the way, and the stone is a blue tourmaline. Grandfather cut the stone for me, but I did the mounting and all the findings myself. This is actually part of a set, and the first time I saw you, Katara, I immediately thought that this and its companion pieces would look perfect on you. Why don't you try it on?"

Katara sat on the floor and let the other girl affix the tiara onto her head, positioning it so that the blue stone lay in the middle of her forehead, with the silver petals curving into her hair. Li Mei produced a small mirror and handed it to Katara. "I feel like a princess," she declared, tilting her head this way and that. "I think it looks great. What do you think?"

She turned to her two companions, fully expecting the blank, can't-be-bothered response from her brother. What she wasn't expecting was the look on Aang's face. He was staring at her, his gray eyes wide and unblinking, his mouth hanging slightly open. He didn't even appear to be breathing. "What?" she asked, beginning to worry. "Don't you like it?"

He shook his head, a hint of red creeping into his face. "You look…really nice," he managed, his voice sounding oddly hoarse.

And to Katara's shock and bewilderment, she found herself unable to break away from his stare, and her own cheeks grew warm as that strange, soft something in her chest unfurled a little bit more.

Sokka glanced first at Aang, then at his sister. "Gee, looks like _something_ in this house is working right," he drawled. "I wonder if there's a double-wedding coming up two days from now."

The spell shattered. Aang looked away, reaching up to rub his head bashfully. "I, uh…I was just, uh…"

"Don't tease him, Sokka," Katara reproached her brother with a bit more force than usual. "Okay, I'll do it," she said to Li Mei, rising to her feet. "Let's see that outfit you mentioned a while ago."

Li Mei clapped her hands together delightedly. "Oh, you'll love it, I promise. Our house isn't far from here so we can get the gown fitted before you take a dip in the hot springs. I've got this milk and honey cream that smells just heavenly. Maybe you'd like to try some of it."

"Only if you'll try some of my special seaweed lotion. It works wonders for the skin, I guarantee it." They headed out of the house without another glance at the two boys. Katara didn't need to listen in to know that Sokka was probably saying something disparaging about girls and their silly habits, while Aang would be…Aang would be…

"By the way, what does blue tourmaline do?" she asked in order to distract herself from unwonted thoughts about the young Avatar.

"It gives you calmness and self-assurance, focus and balance. The blue color especially gives its wearer mental peace and the patience to deal with confusion and turmoil."

"Oh, _good_," Katara said with utmost sincerity. With the way this day had progressed, she was going to need all the calmness and mental peace she could get just to survive the feast tonight.

_(To Be Continued…)_

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_**Author's Notes:**_

_(Ahaha. Fourth time to uploaded this. Made a few more corrections. Sorry!)_

_Once again, thank you so much for reading, and to D. Tempest, BN, Mage of Swords, Raven's-Lost-Sister, Niana Kuonji, XxSilverMoonFrostxX, shinjae, Scorpiored112, darktank, and me-obviouslyfor reviewing. Sorry if this one took a bit longer. As anyone familiar with my writing knows, I tend to write long, loooong chapters, so please bear with me. In the next chapter, I'll be dealing with Aang's POV again and the main plot of the story will be revealed._

_A few notes, though. I re-uploaded the previous chapters after making a few more corrections. For one thing, a friend of mine pointed out that Bumi is the King of Omashu, not of the Earth Kingdom as I so erroneously believed, which is why the episode was titled so. I also can't believe I missed how the words airbender, waterbender, firebender and earthbender were spelled, which was without the hyphen in the middle. Talk about unobservant. And so I stand corrected, or rather, write corrected._

_Another thing: thanks to Niana Kuonji for pointing out that thing about Li Mei's eyes. After rewatching some of the episodes I do have, I did notice the same thing you pointed out. Frankly, it made me squirm. So, er, please just pretend for the sake of story continuity that a lot, if not most, of the firebenders have yellow eyes. I didn't know how else to show that she was a firebender other than dressing her up in too-obvious red or actually demonstrating her abilities._

_And to those who noticed it: Yes, Tai Shen is shaped like a Chinese bagwa, that eight-sided lucky charm with a mirror in the middle. Tai Shen is also taken from the name Tsai Shen which, according to a website on Chinese names, means "god of prosperity." And according to Jack Wade Gold's Jeweler Jargon, "findings" are "items used to make up jewelry, such as clasp, chains, settings, wire, castings, earring posts, bails, loops and so forth," while "mounting" is a "device used to hold gemstones in place, may be a 4 or 6 prong head mounting, or a bezel mounting that has metal all the way around the stone, and may be in any shape the gemstone comes in."_

_And oh, I just have to mention this. I do have an Auntie Sorab. She's a distant relation, but close enough so I get to see her in a few of the more extensive family reunions. She's loud and friendly and wears this black French beret all the time and is the only person I know who plays an accordion, which she does at every opportunity. In fact, my friends remember my grandfather's wake as the only one where the deceased was serenaded by polka music. She is also, biologically speaking, a man. I used to call her Uncle Sorab until she very sweetly told me to call her Auntie, complete with that special arch of the eyebrow that no straight man and very few women can pull off. Grandma Sorab here was inspired by her, but no fictional character I can create will ever hold a candle to the real Auntie Sorab. So there._


	6. Chapter 6, Part 1

**_Author's Note, Part 1:_** _This is actually one entire chapter broken into two parts, because it was turning out unbelievably long. This is the first part. I'll be uploading the next part real soon. Also, these two parts are a bit different from the other chapters, in the sense that I shift POVs more often here. It was a judgment call I had to make, and Ihope it doesn't jar you guys too much._

_Again, thank you so much for still reading this. And thank you so very, very much to you guys who reviewed: HisElement, Melospiza, darktank (it's okay, take your time, ), Scorpiored112 (hehe, thanks, just a little more patience, the dinner party's next), BN, XxSilverMoonFrostxX, Nakira Ayame Outsuno, N1cindyfan, Liselle129 (all hail no-traditional authors), frozenheat, Niana Kuonji (sparklies galore, coming up), me-obviously, and shinjae (the fantabulous)._

_So, anyway, here's part 1 of the chapter I would have titled "The Party" if I hadn't been using roman numerals to title chapters._

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**VI**

**PART 1**

As Katara and Li Mei vanished behind the door, the sound of their voices fading away in the distance, Aang felt as though some of the light had left the room as well. He stared down at the tabletop and drummed his fingers on his knees, feeling antsy and restless without Katara's presence to anchor him, and was about to make some sort of excuse to get out of the house when a hand shot out and slapped him on the arm.

"You see that? That's _exactly_ what I was talking about," Sokka grumbled, his features settling into the scowl of the cynical proven right. "Not half a day passes and she's already skipping around town babbling about dresses and jewelry and stuff. I'm telling you, this place is just one big excuse for her to go all girly on us."

Aang's eyes grew unfocused, seeing once again the way Katara looked with that silver tiara on her head. "I don't know, Sokka. She looked like she was having a good time. Maybe giving her a chance to do all this girly stuff won't be such a bad idea."

Sokka snorted. "So says the guy who's never had to hang around a bunch of giddy females. Trust me, Aang, the next few days are not going to be fun."

Aang shrugged, not really seeing what the problem was. So what if Katara wanted to talk about stuff only another girl could understand? It seemed to make her happy, and he would gladly sit through a boring discussion about dresses and lotions if it would make her smile like that again.

Okay, maybe _gladly_ was pushing it, but he _would_ do it. At least, he was pretty sure he would.

He stood up, stretched and reached for the glider staff that was leaning against the wall. "I'm going to have a look around outside, okay?"

Sokka was already striding purposefully toward the door before he'd even finished talking. "I'm coming with you. I'm going to look for Appa and get our sleeping bags down. No way am I sleeping anywhere near that—that thing in the corner."

"Why not?" Aang asked, genuinely baffled. "You said it was comfy, although I'm not sure if it'll be comfy enough for Grandfather Wang and Grandma Sorab. I mean, they'll have to kneel down to reach it and the floor's kind of hard—"

"Aang! Do you mind?" Sokka yelled, his face taking on a vaguely greenish tinge. "I'd like to enjoy this feast I nearly starved to death for, and that means I'd have to be able to _eat!_"

With that, he stomped off, nearly shoving the door right off its groove. Aang followed him, not sure if he wanted to know what exactly the older boy had gotten so worked up about. Outside, the sun floated above the hills like a benevolent eye peeking through a veil of clouds, and the sky had taken on a pale golden hue that would soon deepen to fiery orange and crimson. Aang took a deep breath, savoring the fragrances wafting in from the garden and mingling with the homey smell of boiling rice as families began to settle in. As he stepped out into the street, a familiar chittering noise made him look up, and with a smile of greeting he held out his arm for Momo to perch on. The lemur wrapped his tail around Aang's neck and belched, and Aang could smell the nuts, fruits and sweetmeats he had been stuffing himself with. "Gee, Momo, if you keep this up we'll have to roll you around on the ground by the time we leave this place."

Momo blinked, clearly unconcerned about the fate in store for him. Aang headed toward the gardens, thinking to follow Sokka to the grove Appa had turned into a den, but he hadn't gotten far when he felt something tugging at his pants. A little girl of around three stood gazing up at him adoringly. He smiled down at her. "Hi there. Are you looking for someone?"

The little girl gestured for him to come closer, then whispered: "I really like you." Before he could react, she threw herself at him, winding her arms around his neck. Aang choked and stumbled back, but when he tried to pry the little girl off of him in order to breathe, she only giggled and tightened her hold even more.

Help arrived in the form of the boy he had seen earlier in the crowd, the one who seemed to be the oldest male in the whole town who wasn't above the age of fifty. "Mari, let him go! The Avatar isn't your pet!" the boy shouted as he ran toward them, followed by a troop of younger children. He grabbed the little girl and pulled and pulled until she released her death-grip around Aang's neck. Abruptly freed, Aang staggered and fell on his behind, and soon found himself surrounded by a ring of children.

The boy who now held the squirming child under one arm like a bag of potatoes looked at him nervously, as though waiting for some kind of explosion. So Aang did the only thing he could: he laughed. "Thanks for getting her off me. You're Kenji, right?"

"Uh, that's right, Avatar. I'm Grandma Sorab's grandson. One of a hundred, I think," Kenji said with a roll of his eyes. "This little pest is my sister, Mari. And these are Hiro, Jin, Ayu, Shoko, Parma and Yan-Yan." He nodded his head to indicate the other children.

"Nice to meet you guys. And you don't have to keep calling me Avatar. My name is Aang." Aang airlifted himself upright, causing the children to gasp in awe.

Kenji gaped. "Wow, you really _are_ an airbender, aren't you?"

"Yup," Aang replied.

"Can you do any airbending tricks?" another child piped up.

Aang grinned. "Well, there _is _this trick I know."

When Sokka came back, it was to find Aang zipping through the streets and alleys, up walls and across rooftops on his air scooter while several laughing children chased after him. The water-tribe warrior adjusted his grip around the sleeping bags and gave the young Avatar an exasperated look. "Why am I not surprised to find you goofing around again?" he muttered.

"Hey, Sokka. Wanna join us?" Aang jumped, spun in mid-air and landed gracefully in front of Sokka, only to have the effect ruined when a pile of shrieking children fell on top of him.

Sokka eyed the heap of flailing arms and legs. "No thanks. I've got some redecorating to do."

"'Redecorating'?" Kenji echoed. "Is he talking about the honeymoon house?"

With a gentle blast of air, Aang lifted the children off him—with the exception of Mari who had attached herself to his leg like a leech—and stood up. "Yeah. I don't know why, but I think the house is making him feel jittery."

Kenji snickered. "No surprise there. That place is packed with fire agates, green beryl and rhodochrosite. Those stones are supposed to have this interesting effect on couples in love, but I guess everybody feels the energies one way or another."

Aang's ears pricked. "Really?" he said casually. "You mean those crystals in the pots, right? What exactly do those things do, anyway?"

Kenji shrugged. "Dunno. I've bended some of those crystals before and I definitely felt _something_ but I couldn't make sense out of it. Old Uncle Ton said it had something to do with being emotionally attuned or some other mumbo-jumbo, but I think he was just messing with me."

"It does sound weird," Aang agreed, making a mental note to check those crystals out as soon as possible. Maybe Li Mei could explain it better.

Kenji shrugged again, losing interest in the subject. "That air scooter thing was pretty neat. You're lucky, you know. You get to do all sorts of useful things with your bending. What's more, you're the Avatar. You get to have these terrific adventures and fight the Fire Nation and all."

"It's not all that great," Aang said quietly, truth ringing in every word.

"Maybe, but it's better than being stuck here." Kenji kicked at a pebble while the children played tag with Momo all around them. "My brothers, my cousins, my uncles—they've all left to join the war. My dad left before Mari was born. One day when I'm old enough, I'm leaving to join my brother in the resistance. The last thing I want is to spend the rest of my life here twiddling my thumbs while everyone else is fighting in the war. There's just one problem, though."

"What's that?" Aang asked, absently working to loosen Mari's grip around his leg.

"This." Kenji raised his hands, making the clear crystal pendant hanging around his neck float upward until the leather cord was stretched taut. He closed his eyes and for a moment the crystal glowed white, filling the air with a subtle power. When he lowered his hands, the crystal dropped back and the light faded away. "That's all I can do with my bending," he confessed. "Just cut and charge gemstones. I can't throw rocks, I can't set off landslides, I can't even make mud. My brother wrote to us about the awful time he had re-learning earthbending just so the other fighters wouldn't laugh at him. I guess I know what I can look forward to when I get out of here."

Aang stared at the other boy, wondering at the way two people could look at the same thing and yet feel so differently about it. Before he could form a reply, Momo came hurtling out of nowhere and dove down to his shoulder. The lemur's pursuer, the boy named Hiro, skidded to a stop, took one look at them and groaned. "Oh no, Kenji's been whining about how he's dying to leave town again, ain't he? You don't have to listen to him," he told Aang. "He does this to _everyone_, only you're too polite to run away."

Kenji glared at him. "Shut up, Hiro."

"Hey, hey! Check me out!"

They turned toward another boy—Jin, if Aang remembered correctly—who had gotten his hands on the glider staff and was swinging it wildly, calling out loud "hahs!" with each swing. The other children had backed away from him but he was too absorbed in playing warrior to notice their nervousness. Aang quickly stepped up behind him and caught the staff as it flew through the air. "Careful. You could hit someone with that."

With his weapon facing confiscation by its real owner, Jin let go of the staff and sniffed scornfully. "Whatever. It's not even a _real_ weapon anyway. Not like a sword or a spear."

Grinning, Aang spun the staff from hand to hand. "You're right. It's not a real weapon. This staff is for airbending." He snapped the glider staff open, threw it in the air, and leaped after it. The chorus of delighted cries from the children floated up to him, and he waved at them as he circled higher and higher over the rooftops. On one of his passes, he noticed two familiar figures walking back to town coming from the mountain path. They crossed the bridge just behind the honeymoon house then turned toward another street. "Katara!" Aang cried happily, uncaring of the fact that he was too far away for her to hear him.

He swooped down and landed lightly on the roof of the house beside the street where Katara and Li Mei were walking. They both had their hair pulled up in a damp bun on the top of their heads and were each carrying a wooden bucket containing a few bottles and jars. They had obviously just come from the hot springs. He opened his mouth and was about to call out to her when some of their conversation drifted toward him.

"—found him in the iceberg," Katara was saying. "We've been together ever since."

_They're talking about me!_ Aang realized, eyes going wide. Li Mei said something that seemed to startle Katara. Her back went stiff and she shook her head quickly, and Aang wished he could see her expression. He leaned as far over the roof's edge as he dared, trying to catch sight of more than just an ear and the nape of her neck, but froze when he heard her next words.

"Aang is—he's a good friend. Oh, don't get me wrong. He's friendly and sweet and a lot of fun to be with. He's also the bravest person I know, and an incredibly powerful bender besides. I used to get so jealous over how naturally gifted he is at bending," Katara admitted with a rueful laugh. "But really, he's just a sweet little guy and a good friend of mine, that's all," she finished in a voice that he could barely hear now.

The two girls turned at the corner and vanished from sight. Aang sat back on the roof, feeling cold and dispirited as Katara's words ran through his mind again and again. _Just a good friend, huh?_ he thought, his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. He didn't know why the news that Katara saw him as just a goofy kid and a good buddy of hers should make him feel so dejected. It wasn't as if he didn't know about it. Katara herself had told him pretty much the same thing once before. It was just that, after what happened back in the cave, he'd begun to think…no, he'd begun to _hope_ that something had changed between them. That maybe, just maybe, Katara had begun to see him a little differently. As somebody who could be…something more to her than just this goofy kid who'd go to ridiculous lengths to get her to notice him.

Maybe he'd been wrong about this all along. After all, he didn't know how _she_ felt about what happened in the cave. All he knew was that when she'd hesitantly suggested that kissing might somehow show them the way out, he'd been so dazed and nervous and desperate not to appear, well, desperate that he'd ended up making a muck of things. And later, with only the dying torch light and the sound of each other's quiet breathing to guide them, she'd placed her hand on his and leaned toward him, and he'd closed his eyes and met her halfway. When he felt the brush of her lips against his, as fleeting as the touch of a butterfly's wing, it was as though his entire being had been struck by lightning. In fact, when the crystals embedded on the ceiling of the cave began to glow, it took him a few seconds to realize that the light wasn't coming from him.

And that somehow, without their knowing it, her fingers had become entangled with his.

It was a moment he treasured, something he clung to like a talisman whenever he would simply stare at her, certain that she didn't know he was watching her. He'd never worked up the nerve to ask her what _she_ thought of it, though. He tried once but she acted as though nothing had happened, and he'd been content not to mention it again. He'd even felt a secret thrill at the thought of sharing something unspoken and meaningful with her. Now, it turned out that the reason she hadn't treated him any differently after the kiss was because it hadn't mattered enough for her to do so. It was just a way for them to get out of a stupid cave.

He buried his head in his arms, trying to get his shuddering breaths under control. A weight settled upon his shoulder and chittered softly at him, and he lifted his head and smiled weakly at the lemur. "Guess what, Momo. I'm making progress with Katara. At least she didn't compare me to you this time."

"Aang!"

He found Kenji waving at him from the street while Mari hopped up and down, chanting "AangAangAangAang" in a singsong voice. "I've been looking all over for you," Kenji complained. "I'm supposed to bring you over so you can get cleaned up for tonight."

"Cleaned up?"

"Yeah, for the feast. You know, the one to be held in honor of the Avatar?"

Aang blinked. He'd forgotten all about the feast. Truth to tell, all he wanted to do right now was find a hole to hide in and lick his wounds, but it looked like he was up for an evening of smiling politely and making chit-chat and generally being the gracious Avatar he was supposed to be. He sighed and hopped off the roof, and with a squeal Mari launched herself at him, only to have her brother seize her in mid-launch by the scruff of her neck.

"Your friend Sokka's already being brought to Grandfather Wang's house," Kenji continued as though he wasn't being pummeled by the furious little girl he held clamped underneath one arm. "Li Mei and your other friend are probably there, too. Ow! Mari, will you knock it off?"

Fully expecting Kenji to turn at the same corner Katara and Li Mei had disappeared round, Aang was surprised when the other boy continued straight on toward the center of the town. "Hey, I thought we were going to Grandfather Wang's house."

Kenji gave him a smug look. "Nope. I'm taking you to Grandma's house. You've been chosen to be her model tonight. Which reminds me." He stopped, placed a hand on Aang's shoulder and looked him solemnly in the eye. "If it weren't for you, Aang, I'd be the one Grandma and the others would be bullying tonight into wearing an outfit _she_ picked out. So thanks. I owe you one."

"Uh, sure. No problem," Aang said for lack of anything better to say.

"But don't worry about it!" Kenji cried jovially in an abrupt turnaround. "Grandma's got a good eye for design, one of the best in town, in fact. You're in capable hands, my friend."

Before Aang could flatly point out how unconvincing Kenji was, Mari wriggled free from her brother's grip and latched onto Aang's leg with a contented sigh. It took the two boys a few minutes and some vigorous yanking to separate the little girl from Aang's right calf. "Yeesh, sorry about this," Kenji apologized as he hefted his sister onto his shoulder. "Three years old and already she gets these crazy crushes."

"It's okay. It's kind of cute, I guess." Aang ruffled Mari's hair, and she instantly stopped pouting and giggled instead. He sighed inwardly. What with Meng, Koko and the girls on Kyoshi Island and now Mari, it was pretty safe to say that girls younger than he was, _years_ younger even, found him reasonably attractive. If only he could say the same about girls older than him. Two years older, to be precise.

He became aware that Kenji was still talking, describing in great detail the feasts and parties the townsfolk of Tai Shen would seemingly hold at the drop of a hat. "So you guys do this a lot, huh?" he finally asked, intrigued despite himself.

Kenji considered it for a total of two seconds. "Yeah, pretty much. People in Tai Shen are really peacocks disguised as humans, and they'd welcome any excuse to get all dolled up and strut their stuff. We're holding this feast in your honor, but we'd probably have held a feast to welcome Grandfather Wang and Li Mei back anyway. 'Course, you guys being here make it so much grander. Honestly, we should put up a road sign that says, 'Welcome to Tai Shen: We Make A Big Deal Out of Nothing'. Uh, no offence meant," he added quickly.

Aang stared glumly at the ground. "Looks like I'm going to fit in real well, then."

o – o – o – o – o

Aang stood in the middle of one of the most elegant, most understatedly feminine rooms he had ever seen. Everything was red, gold and dark, burnished wood. Golden rugs with ornate red designs covered half of the floor. A red lacquered cabinet sat in one corner, while several altar tables stood against the walls. Atop of these tables was an array of ornaments—a porcelain vase, a china bowl with red peonies floating inside, and countless figurines carved from clear yellow gemstones. There were several chairs and in one corner, partly hidden behind a screen, a couch-bed with several red cushions. Thin gray lines of smoke curled upward from several sticks of incense burning upon a squat incense table, and Aang's nose twitched at the heavily floral scent.

He rubbed his nose and shifted from foot to foot, wondering where everybody was and where Kenji had disappeared to. The boy had led him into this room, then left after telling him to "enjoy the peace while you can." That cryptic remark did nothing to relieve Aang's unease. He picked up one of the figurines and examined it, his thoughts turning toward Katara and Sokka and what they were doing over at Grandfather Wang's place. Probably having fun getting all dressed up. An image of a smiling, excited Katara flashed through his mind, accompanied by a wave of longing so intense it took him by surprise. Shaking his head at his own mawkishness, he replaced the figurine, rubbed his nose again, then with a sweep of his arm sent an air current across the room to blow the streams of smoke toward the doorway.

And right into Grandma Sorab's face.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't see you there," Aang said, hastily redirecting the smoke back into the room.

Grandma Sorab smiled benignly. "It's all right, although I see that orange blossom incense is not to your liking." She picked up the brass tray that held the incense and handed it to one of several women who had entered the room in her wake. "Take this to another room before it gives our young Avatar the sniffles."

As the woman bowed and left, Grandma Sorab moved to sit on one of the chairs. "My goodness, but these old bones are certainly not what they used to be," she said lightly, her regal, straight-backed posture belying her words. "Forgive me, Aang. I would ask you to sit but these ladies wanted to have a look at you."

Aang, who now stood in the middle of a ring of females who were eyeing him speculatively and smiling behind the sleeves of their robes, swallowed and said: "I can tell."

"I must thank you for allowing me to have you fitted out for tonight."

He thought about reminding her that he hadn't exactly been given much choice in the matter, but decided against it when he realized how much it would make him sound like Sokka. "Uh, actually, I should be the one thanking you for letting me borrow something to wear tonight. We weren't exactly prepared for a party."

Grandma Sorab smiled again. "Oh, it is my pleasure. As you can see, I rarely get a chance to see my creations worn by a handsome young male, ever since my grandson Kenji decided he didn't need his old grandma's help dressing himself up. Has a mind of his own, our Kenji," she added affectionately.

"Um," Aang offered.

"Oh, forgive this old woman for rambling. Now before we get on with business, I would like to present to you my daughters and granddaughters, who will be assisting you tonight."

Several feminine voices murmured greetings, to which he responded with a nervous grin. One of the women sighed. "Oh Grandma, you're right. He's perfect!"

Another woman broke from the ring and circled him, her hands darting out to touch his shoulders and arms, tugging at his red-orange cape here and there. "The pattern will flow _here_ and _here_ and—ooh, ladies, he's definitely got the build for it!" she announced excitedly.

"I don't remember Kenji looking like _that_ at his age, do you? And those tattoos! How exotic! He's going to be a _dream_ to work with."

"Oh, absolutely! The ensemble's going to look _marvelous_ on him."

"Oooh, I can't wait. Let's get started!"

The women advanced upon him, their eyes aglow with the fires of conquest. Spurred by a deep-seated, previously untapped instinct for self-preservation, Aang backed away from the horde until he was pressed flat against the lacquered cabinet. He brought his staff up and was about to catapult himself over their heads and make a break for the doorway when Grandma Sorab calmly stepped between him and the women, her girth as implacable as a fortress wall.

"Now, ladies. I know how eager you are but let's show a bit of restraint, shall we?" she said placidly. "Don't forget, this is Avatar Aang you're working with, not Kenji. He's not used to being treated as a model."

Chastised, the women moved back to give Aang some breathing space. He unglued himself from the cabinet and sighed. "Thanks for the save," he said to Grandma Sorab.

"It's quite all right." Grandma Sorab turned toward the women. "You may bring the bath in now. And the bathing robes, if you please."

"Bath?" Aang said blankly.

Grandma Sorab positively beamed. "Why, yes. We always begin with a bath, of course, to cleanse both body and spirit. Ah, here it comes."

Two women came in carrying a wooden bath tub, followed by several more bearing buckets of steaming water, soaps, scrubbing brushes, robes and some suspicious-looking clay pots the contents of which he honestly did not want to find out. A couple of women came in last, carrying a set of clothes, shoes and a flat velvet case. Aang stared with rising dread at the room, which was looking more and more like a torture chamber to him.

Grandma Sorab nodded approvingly. "All right then. It's time for you to undress."

"What?" Aang, who ordinarily had no compunctions at all about stripping down to the bare essentials whenever the chance for a quick dip presented itself, suddenly found himself deeply reluctant to shed a single piece of clothing in front of so many avidly watching females. "Could I at least have a bit of privacy?" he muttered, a part of him unable to believe what he'd just said.

The women exchanged glances and giggled, and Aang caught a murmured, "Aw, isn't that cute? He's shy!" At Grandma Sorab's gesture, two women dragged the screen over. "Here you are, young Avatar," one of the women said cheerfully. "After all, we're here to make things easier for you. All you have to do is relax!"

As Aang resigned himself to the questionable safety of the thin paper screen, his thoughts drifted once again to Katara and Sokka and the fun they must be having at Grandfather Wang's house. One thing for sure: There was no way their situation could be worse than his.

o – o – o – o – o

"What are you, _crazy_? No!"

"Aw, quit your whining. It ain't going to kill you."

"No way! I am _not_ putting on that fancy gown and that sloppy goop—"

"That ain't a gown, you idiot, that's a brocade robe and this is, er, some sort of cream to get rid of your stink, it's made from herbs and all—"

"—and those silly, shiny doodads. I happen to be a warrior of the Water Tribe and—_stink_? Are you saying I _smell_?"

"What, you think you smell like a basket o'roses? And just whose doodads are you calling silly?"

The shouting went on for some time, making the thin walls vibrate despite the fact that the combatants were located at the opposite wing of the admittedly not very large house. Katara, who was sitting on the edge of Li Mei's bed, closed her eyes and pictured Sokka quietly behaving himself in the vain hope that her brother could read her mind across the distance and shut his mouth. When a loud crash and what sounded like a bucket of water being kicked across the floor punctuated the din, she willed herself to look at Li Mei, her mouth already forming the words of an apology.

Li Mei held her head to one side and was smiling contentedly, as though she was listening to sweet _sitar_ music instead of two people about to cross the generation gap with weapons drawn. "I'm so glad," she sighed. "Grandfather likes your brother."

"He'd like my brother to be tied up and gagged, maybe."

"No, really, he does. You see, Grandfather knows he can be a bit cranky and temperamental, so he likes people who can stand up to him."

Katara groaned. "Great. Then that racket is turning out to be a duel between two masters."

"Furthermore, no way am I wearing a robe that shade of red. Red just isn't my color, and looking like a tomato that's been run over by a cart isn't my idea of manly elegance either."

"Oh, shut up and get in the blasted tub. I'm going to my workshop where it's nice and quiet, and you can just holler when you're done. Damned persnickety customers..."

The noise dwindled down to the sloshing of water against wood and some occasional grumbling. Katara shrugged, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to abandon Sokka to his fate just this once. "I hope Aang's okay," she murmured for the third time in less than an hour.

"Oh, I'm sure he's all right," Li Mei replied as she rifled though an upright cabinet full of clothes and fabrics. "Grandma Sorab and the girls are probably giving him the royal treatment."

"The girls," Katara knew, meant Grandma Sorab's army of daughters and granddaughters. Somehow, the idea of leaving Aang in the hands of so many females was making her feel a bit unsettled. Ever since they left the South Pole, the three of them had rarely been separated, and those times when they _were_ separated always meant bad news one way or another. It was only natural for her to feel concerned when Aang wasn't around. But Li Mei was right; Aang was probably having a good time wherever he was. It was practically a talent of his, anyway.

Yes, he was fine. Perfectly all right.

So why did she feel as though her stomach was slowly coiling itself up into a tight, little ball?

It was just nerves, she thought. After all, it wasn't everyday she got to wear a beautiful gown and jewelry to match in order to attend a fancy dinner held in their honor. Well, there _had_ been that banquet hosted by Chief Arnook back in the Northern Water Tribe, but that had been, at least up until Master Pakku began waxing obnoxious about his chauvinistic traditions, almost like being home again and so it probably didn't count as a _real_ formal event despite the presence of a princess. It wasn't as if Katara'd looked any different then; all she did was keep her usual arctic furs on and show up. But _this_…

Tonight was going to be special, she just knew it. And apparently, her twisting guts knew it, too.

"Here it is. The gown I was telling you about." Li Mei straightened and carefully unfolded the garment, which seemed to consist of rippling lengths of deep blue silk and silver gauze. Katara gasped and stood up for a closer look, then watched in stupefied silence as Li Mei laid the gown out on the bed along with the silver jewelry that would go with it. "There. That's how it's all going to look. Of course, you can only appreciate the total effect when you're wearing it."

"Oh Li Mei, it's _gorgeous_," Katara said in a hushed voice. "I—I can't possibly wear that. I won't be able to pull it off. What if I spill something on it? Or what if I trip and something gets caught on something else?"

Li Mei blinked at her, then sighed. "Okay, Katara. If you feel so strongly about this, I can find you something else to wear in the chest in the other room." Caught off guard by Li Mei's easy capitulation, Katara could only stare dumbly as the other girl headed toward the door. She paused in the doorway just long enough to say, in a timid voice: "This might take a while. I haven't gotten around to sorting out the clothes in the chest yet. If you want to, you can try out that gown for a bit while you wait. It can't hurt to see how you might have looked in it, right?"

"Uh, sure," Katara said, nonplussed. As soon as Li Mei slid the door closed, she glanced around furtively, then pulled her water-tribe robes off and picked up the gown. The silk flowed over her arm in a caress of pure temptation. She worked the tiny frog buttons open in the back, then after a moment of hesitation stepped into the gown, almost sighing at the feel of the fabric gliding over her skin. She opened the cabinet to reveal the mirror hanging on the inside of one door and stared in astonished wonder at the vision in blue and silver before her.

"Oh wow," she said dazedly, her hands reaching up to pat herself. The vision in the mirror imitated her actions, removing all doubt as to its identity. She turned this way and that, admiring the way the gown molded itself to her form. She could just imagine the expressions on her companions' faces when they saw her in this. No more ordinary little Katara, peasant girl from the backwater village of the Southern Water-Tribe. She was a princess—no, a queen. Maybe even the spirit of a star who had chosen to incarnate into the mortal realm—

Okay, Sokka would probably be rolling his eyes by now and telling her to get the clouds out of her head, it's only a _dress_, for crying out loud. But maybe Aang would like it…

She remembered the way he looked at her when she tried out the tiara, and her heart did a funny little flutter.

Yes, Aang would definitely like it.

She closed her eyes and pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead as though she could physically stop that train of thought from going any further. She thought she'd done a fairly good job of distracting herself with viewing the modest house Grandfather Wang and Li Mei lived in and taking a dip the hot springs and talking Li Mei into sharing bits of the long version of her story with her. It had worked, too, for a while, until Li Mei began asking her about _her_ story and how they'd ended up as the Avatar's companions in his quest to save the world. That had been okay, too. Nothing she hadn't dealt with a hundred times before during their travels.

But then out of the blue, Li Mei had said: "I know this is going to sound intrusive of me, but I just have to know: what is he to you, exactly?"

The question tripped her up, and after one distressing moment of complete and utter blankness, her brain managed to scrape together an answer that sounded reassuringly convincing. Afterward, she steered the conversation away by asking about gemstones and, like a kitten faced with a ball of yarn, Li Mei happily obliged.

The damage was done, though, and now Katara could still hear the soft, hesitant voice asking her a question she had been sure she knew the answer to, only to find a sea of doubt and confusion gradually wearing down her certainties. It had shaken her far more than she cared to admit.

She shook her head sharply, pushing back the thought of Li Mei's question and all that it implied back into the deep, dark corner where they belonged. From now on, she was going to keep their mission foremost in her mind and ground herself firmly in the here and now. It just so happened that "here" and "now" meant standing in Li Mei's room wearing a gown that could only be described as divine and looking at an image of her that she only saw before in her daydreams.

She narrowed her eyes at her reflection. Oh, why not? Here was a chance for her to make a fantasy come true, and she wasn't about to waste it by worrying about what-ifs. She suddenly smiled, remembering her very first lesson in bending.

_If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear._

There was a quiet sound, and Katara met Li Mei's amber eyes in the mirror. "It's this or nothing."

Li Mei smiled serenely. "Let me help you with those buttons."

o – o – o – o – o

Aang was getting desperate. He wasn't sure how long it had been but it felt longer than his stay in the iceberg. It was probably less than an hour, but it was an hour he'd spent being scrubbed and rubbed and covered with all sorts of odorous gunk and poked and prodded and pushed and pulled to within an inch of his life. He had to get out of there before he went completely nuts.

The problem was, these women were worse than Master Pakku, Master Jeong-Jeong and all those sour-faced senior monks at the Southern Air Temple combined. He stood with his arms held out at his sides while the women did mysterious and, he suspected, pointless things with needles and thread and bits of his clothing, and if he tried to lower his arms even an inch, they would cluck their tongues and give him the _look_. Aang may have been raised by monks on a mountaintop, but genetics was a powerful force and something bone-deep inside him reverted to hangdog docility in response to the what-did-I-just-tell-you expression on a maternal face. That kind of underhanded tactic was hard to fight against.

So when Kenji sauntered into the room, Aang couldn't quite keep from sounding pathetically hopeful. "Hey, Kenji. Good to see you again."

The other boy took in the scene and winced in sympathy. "Hi, Aang. Uh, hi aunties, cousins. Lovely evening tonight."

The women looked less than pleased to see him. "Kenji, what are you doing here?" one of them demanded.

"Nothing. Just checking how things are going. Hmm." He surveyed Aang with a professional eye. "Not bad. Looks like they really did a number—I mean, they really did a good job on you, Aang."

Aang tried lowering his arms again and got a finger jabbed into his side. "Yeah," he said unenthusiastically. "They sure did."

Ignoring the warning stares the women were giving him, Kenji sidled over to Aang and whispered loudly: "Listen, Aang, you know your pet lemur? What's his name, Popo?"

Aang gave him a strange look. "You mean Momo? What about him?"

"We-eell, he kinda got into the kitchen downstairs. The pantry's a mess and the cook's just about lost it."

"What? That's awful!"

"Yeah, it is. And you know that big, fluffy thing you guys rode on when you came here?"

"Don't tell me Appa got himself in trouble, too!"

"He did. Gobbled up all of Grandma's rose bushes. It'll break her heart when she sees the state her garden's in. The thing is, there isn't anyone who can stop Appa from starting in on the chrysanthemum patches."

"Appa and Momo'll listen to me." Aang swept his staff up and bowed to the frowning women. "Thanks, ladies, but I really have to go. See you later!"

He and Kenji had gotten as far as the doorway when Grandma Sorab materialized right in front of them. They were walked back into the room as the old lady advanced, her eyes glinting ominously. "What's this about the kitchen and my rose bushes, grandson of mine?"

Kenji's face had taken on the color of stale porridge. "Uh, hi Grandma. What a surprise to see you here. What was that? Oh, right. The kitchen and the, um, rosebushes. Uh, yeah. They're, ah, well, it _could_ have happened and, uh, you know, better safe than sorry, right, and, uh—"

Aang stared at the other boy in disbelief. Apparently, Kenji's mouth operated independently of his brain. With a sigh, he stepped forward and put himself between Grandma Sorab and her babbling grandson. "Sorry, Grandma Sorab. This is my fault. I, uh, left my pets alone and Kenji was worried they'd get into trouble."

She turned to him, and he willed himself to meet the bladed hazel gaze. Suddenly, she threw her head back and laughed. "Oh my. Serves me right for trying to keep an impatient, easily bored young boy shut up in a room full of fussy women. I do apologize, Aang, and I commend you for enduring what must have been an ordeal for you with far more grace than my grandson here."

"Hey!" Kenji cried indignantly.

Aang rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I've had practice. The monks who trained me made me go through worse stuff than this," he said, lying through his teeth.

"Did they? How fortunate for us, then. And how fortunate for _you_ that it's almost over."

"Great!" Aang exclaimed. "So what's left?"

With a smile, Grandma Sorab held her hand out for the velvet case. Inside lay a pendant made from a clear, golden gemstone cut into a rectangular shape as long as Aang's thumb. The gemstone was mounted upon an S-shaped bar of silver. Light sparkled off a hundred facets, so much so that the stone seemed to glow with a light of its own. Aang felt his jaw drop. If sunlight could be collected and condensed into solid form, he had no doubt it would look like this.

Grandma Sorab lifted the silver chain from which the pendant hung. The gemstone swung gently in the air, throwing off tiny shards of light. "Here we are. The final touch."

"Wow." Kenji gaped as Grandma Sorab slipped the chain over Aang's head, letting the pendant rest upon his chest. "You're letting him wear the imperial topaz? Aang, you lucky kid. Grandma's been working on that for _weeks_."

Aang fingered the pendant, feeling both honored and slightly leery of having such an exquisite object anywhere near his person. "It's beautiful. I didn't know you could cut stones this long. I thought they always had to be, you know, diamond-shaped."

"Oh yes, you can. If you know how to listen, the stone itself will guide you as you facet and polish it," Grandma Sorab said. "Topaz is a hard gemstone, harder than quartz. The ancients believed the imperial topaz to be the stone of the sun god, and wearing it grants one the protection and self-confidence of the sun itself. Among its other virtues, topaz is known as the stone of fidelity and draws love and friendship to its wearer. It is also known as the stone of hope."

Aang looked at her sharply but Grandma Sorab's smile gave nothing away. "Uh, that's nice," he muttered, peering down suspiciously at the pendant.

"Now, would you like to see how it all looks?"

At her gesture, two of the women brought out a large mirror. Aang turned and blinked, then blinked again as the boy in the mirror stared wide-eyed back at him. "Is that really me?"

The women giggled. "It's definitely you, Aang," Kenji answered. "I did say you were in good hands. Now let's get out of here. See you in a while, Grandma, aunties and cousins."

He was out the door in a flash, but Aang hesitated. He glanced again at his reflection before turning toward Grandma Sorab and her troop of workers. The grand old lady was beaming at him, and Aang suddenly remembered her walking around the room, pausing once to pick up a figurine and turn it over thoughtfully in her hands. His eyes flickered toward the figurine—the same one he had held earlier—then back toward Grandma Sorab. Smiling, he clasped his hands and bowed. "Thank you for all your help," he said, meaning every word.

"It was our pleasure, young Avatar," Grandma Sorab replied warmly. "Now go, before you force my grandson to skulk back in here for you."

Kenji and the other children were waiting outside with some ostrich-horses. As he stepped into the street, Momo dropped down onto his shoulder, and Aang reached up to scratch the lemur behind the ears. "Careful with the clothes, Momo. I have to return these tomorrow."

"So, I guess Operation: Rescue the Avatar worked, huh?" Hiro asked.

Kenji sighed. "Well, not exactly."

"Sure it did," Aang said kindly as he took the offered reins from Jin. "Although I thought that thing about Appa was overdoing it a bit."

"Yeah," Kenji said, laughing. "I kinda made that one up on the spot."

"Made 'that one' up?" Aang raised an eyebrow. Before Kenji could reply, Momo belched again, right into Aang's face. The lemur's breath had taken on a distinctly smorgasbord quality. At the same moment, Aang became aware of a complicated noise coming from inside the house, a noise that might have been made by a furious cook trying to repair the damage done to the pantry while screaming her head off.

Kenji shrugged. "You didn't think I made _everything_ up, did you?"

There was a crash, followed by a shrill demand for someone to "find the critter what ate all the _pili_ nuts." Aang gulped and hastily mounted. "Come on, let's get out of here."

o – o – o – o – o

Katara sat on the porch overlooking a tiny garden and sighed. The cup of tea she held very carefully in her hands had already cooled, but there was still no sign that the riveting discussion being carried out on one end of the house would be letting up soon.

"Definitely not this one. The color's all wrong and would you look at the size of that pattern? It'd dominate the entire outfit, not to mention make me look like a walking mosaic."

"Hmm, you have a point there, although I'll have you know that that color is rare. The dye is made by boiling a bug that feeds on this rare bush and—yeah, it's butt-ugly. What about this?"

"Oh, that one looks good. Really good. Check out those lines and—"

"Hah! You're slipping up, boy! Those lines are completely off-kilter."

"Hey, _you_ were the one who was going on and on about asymmetrical balance a while ago."

"I _said_ if it was done properly. I don't gener'ly hold with this new asymmetry craze, because most of 'em who claim their work is properly balanced are just a bunch of blind idiots. Besides, you ain't going to wear that either. _This_ is what you're going to wear."

"Huh? Then why did I just spend the last twenty minutes looking over an entire wardrobe?"

"_You_ tell me. You were the one who started in on the nit-picking, remember?"

"_I_ was the one who—aaargh! I don't believe this!"

Katara sighed again and tuned out the noise. The door slid quietly behind her, and she turned to see Li Mei standing there dressed in a pale pink gown with long, trumpet-shaped sleeves. She had opted to wear her long black hair loose and without adornments, but hanging from her neck was a double-strand of blue azurite beads interspersed with polished amethysts, with matching strands around her wrist and ankle. "Wow," Katara exclaimed. "You look great, Li Mei."

Li Mei smiled gratefully. "Thank you. You look lovely yourself, Katara."

"Thanks. You already told me that."

"Oh, but this time, I'm complimenting _you_, not my work," Li Mei retorted impishly.

Surprised, Katara burst out laughing. She put the tea cup down, gathered the semi-transparent veil into her arms and stood. "How much longer are those two going to stay in there?" she wondered.

"Oh, not very long now, I'm sure." The two girls stared at each other as the voices in the other room crowded out the silence. "Ah, maybe I should go check to see how they're getting on," Li Mei mumbled, before dashing off.

Barely five minutes had passed before a sound made Katara turn. What met her was a sight people back in their village would have paid good money to see. "Sokka, you look fantastic!"

Sokka grinned, the light glinting off his teeth with a faint _ting_. "I do, don't I? I gotta admit, the old man really knows his stuff. Not only does this outfit look great, it _feels_ great, too."

The outfit was a simple, high-collared sleeveless shirt made of rich, cream-colored silk and loose pants a darker shade of brown. Black frog buttons held the shirt together in front, and a black sash was tied around his waist. Completing the outfit was a choker of white, marbled beads with a gleaming black stone in the center, which peeked out from the gap of his collar, and a pair of wide, similar-looking bracelets on both wrists. Still, some things never change, and Katara grinned when she saw her brother's trademark ponytail and his boomerang strapped to his back.

Sokka noticed the direction of her gaze and shrugged. "It's a warrior's outfit. What can I say?"

"Well, you look great," Katara declared, giving her brother a hug.

"Thanks," he returned, hugging her back. "You don't look half-bad yourself. Who'd have thought you'd clean up so well?"

She pulled away to give him a dry look. "Gosh, how flattering."

Sokka chuckled then reached out to squeeze her shoulders. "Seriously, you look gorgeous, Katara. You look so much like Mom it's unbelievable."

She smiled, tears stinging her eyes. It was the sweetest thing her brother had ever said to her. "Thanks, Sokka."

His grin suddenly widened. "Man, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees you in this."

"Who?"

"Who what?"

"Who's 'he'?"

"He who?"

Katara narrowed her eyes. "Who's this 'he' you're talking about, Sokka?"

"I don't know, Katara. Who are _you_ talking about?" Sokka lifted his hands, looking so guileless she almost believed him.

She opened her mouth, ready to yell at him for being deliberately obtuse and praying that doing so would keep him from noticing how red her face was. Before she could make a peep, Li Mei and Grandfather Wang appeared beside them, the old man spiffily dressed in gleaming emerald robes and half-a-dozen strands of multicolored beads hanging around his neck. Nothing could be done to tame his bushy pyramid of hair, although Katara couldn't help noticing that the outlying strands had been strung with tiny, colored beads.

The old man glowered at them. "What are you two dawdling around here for? Can't you see we're already late?"

Sokka lifted an accusing finger, and Katara quickly trod on his instep to prevent them from getting into yet another protracted debate. Li Mei smothered a giggle. "Let me go hitch Killer and then we can leave."

"Oh no you don't, missy." Grandfather Wang's hand shot out and snagged Li Mei's sleeve. "We've got a big, tough warrior with us. Can't be having with well-dressed maidens and old men hitching rickshaws, these warrior-types," he said slyly.

Sokka balked. "You want _me_ to go hook a cart onto that smelly, overgrown feather-duster in the stable? In my brand new outfit?" Three heads nodded expectantly, and he sagged. "Oh, all right."

Some minutes later, they were clattering down the street in a wobbly rickshaw, with Sokka riding on Killer's back and whining about how the old-bird smell was going to stick to his clothes. Shifting in her seat beside Li Mei, Katara gazed up into the star-dusted sky and drank in the moonlight, feeling her blood stir with anticipation—and some indefinable emotion that was almost like magic. She wasn't sure if what she was feeling was within the bounds of reason…no, she _knew_ it wasn't and that she would have to pay for this indulgence later, but just this once, she wasn't going to care. Just this once, she was going to live in the here and now. After all, how many peasant girls found themselves dressed like princesses and going to a party in a carriage, never mind that said carriage was dangerously close to falling apart and that she was squeezed in beside two other people, one of whom had a hairdo that could poke someone's eye out? Maybe some fairytales began like that, she thought with a surge of wry humor. Really, all she needed now was a prince.

A pair of wide gray eyes and a warm smile flashed through her mind. Tonight was going to be special, she just knew it.

_(To Be Continued…)_


	7. Chapter 6, Part 2

**VI**

**Part 2**

"The Mean Goose Tea House," Aang read from the signboard. "Weird name for a tea house," he added, looking up skeptically at the round gates of a walled compound that looked more like a military stronghold than a supposedly swanky party venue. Momo blinked in silent agreement from his perch on Aang's shoulder.

"Oh, the place is named for Old Phong's favorite pet when he first built this place," Hiro explained. "He was really sad when that goose died. He even held a dinner in its honor right here in this tea house."

"He must've really loved it," Aang commented, touched at the idea of someone hosting a dinner in memory of his animal-friend.

Kenji grinned. "Sure, and we really loved the honey-roasted goose he served up that night."

"Hey, why are the gates still closed?" Jin cut in.

"That's because we're early, dummy. They probably haven't finished putting up all the lights yet. We'll just have to wait until they open," Hiro said, leaning up against the gate.

"I can go check," Aang offered, but was kept from following Momo over the wall by Kenji's hand on his shoulder.

"There's an easier way to do this." Kenji eyed the gates, then lifted his fist and proceeded to pound merry hell out of the thick planks. "Open up! Is this any way to treat the guest of honor?"

The gates swung open, revealing a scowling old man in an apron. "I know that voice. Kenji, you troublemaking—A-Avatar Aang!" he gasped when he spotted Aang. "Please, please, come in. I was about to open the gates anyway. Right this way."

He stepped aside, and Aang walked into another world. Decorative rocks and trees bordered a crescent-shaped pond, with pagodas marking each end. In the center was a wide, wooden bridge with wings extending on either side. The bridge led to a brightly-lit pavilion with red pillars and walls of wooden latticework, wherein a large ring of low tables and scarlet cushions had been set up. White paper lanterns hung from the edges of the pavilion roof and from tree branches. Rows of lanterns were also strung up over the bridge and the pond, casting a soft light upon the lotus blossoms. Aang slowly made his way across the bridge, his mouth hanging open as his gaze roamed the place, and laughed in surprise when he spied the sign tacked beside the pavilion's doorway: Welcome, Avatar and Companions.

"Boy, you guys sure know how make someone feel appreciated," he said, and the old man, who had been trailing behind him with no small amount of trepidation, sighed with relief.

"I'm so glad you approve, Avatar Aang," said the old man, who could only be the proprietor. "You _are _a bit early, but that's all right because now you get to see the whole show."

"Show?"

Kenji nodded cheerfully. "Yeah, when all the peacocks parade over that bridge in all their glory. The dinner won't officially start until Grandma says so, and until she does, people are going to primp and preen and make snide comments about other people's outfits. We're lucky we're early. We get to have ring-side seats to the show," he announced, pointing to the nearest pagoda, which provided both a good view of the bridge and a convenient hiding place.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Kenji, ain't you forgetting something? Aang _is_ the show. He's got to be out here so people can meet him."

"What people? There's no one here but us."

"Not anymore," Phong said, an expression of professional welcome blooming on his face as the first guests began arriving. The old man made a gestured, and a few musicians stepped out and took their positions in a corner. Light _ruan_ music soon floated upon the breeze.

"Gah, it's Mrs. Mok and Team Rabbit," Kenji said, recoiling at the sight of the matron dressed in a gown an eye-scorching shade of mauve and what looked like the entire contents of her jewelry box piled upon her head. She was flanked by two extremely buck-toothed girls. "I ain't hanging around here to watch _them_. Come on, Aang. You can make your grand re-entrance later."

He and the others escaped to the pagoda while Aang wavered, wondering if he shouldn't follow Phong's lead and greet the guests. However, something in Mrs. Mok's eyes, a kind of predatory glint as she scanned the place, made his new-found instincts scream in alarm, and before she or her similarly acquisitive-looking daughters could catch sight of him, he had sprinted toward the safety of the pagoda with the speed of a master airbender, beating Kenji and Hiro to it.

More guests began arriving. Aang watched from the darkened pagoda as flocks of glittering, elegantly garbed people lingered at the bridge and milled around the pond, making sure that they stood at the most flattering angle to the lights. Men, women and children in silk and brocade and every kind of jewelry imaginable—it was a wonder the bridge didn't collapse beneath the weight. The music was soon drowned out by the sound of conversation, laughter and a more or less steady stream of commentary, and Aang caught the occasional "but she wore that _last_ time" and "he was probably drunk when he cut that stone" drifting over the breeze.

Even his new friends joined in. "Ugh, that must have been some lousy bending to make _those_ beads," Jin said, pointing at a choker around a girl's throat while Hiro and Kenji snorted in agreement.

Aang barely noticed the exchange around him as he leaned against the rail, his eyes searching the crowd for any sign of his companions. When minutes passed without even a glimpse of a familiar pair of ice-blue eyes, he sighed and stared down at the water, the misery he'd almost forgotten in the chaos of getting dressed up creeping over him again. What was wrong with him? He wasn't acting like himself at all. He liked happy celebrations and he liked being with people, and now here was an occasion for both and he was lurking around in the dark and thinking gloomy thoughts. He should be out there right now; he was the Avatar and this party was supposed to be in his honor, and those people out there were probably looking for him and…

Where _was_ she? Where were Katara and Sokka? Weren't they supposed to be here by now?

What if something happened to them? What if they'd been ambushed by those Fire Nation soldiers coming back for him? Or what if Zuko had found them? He shouldn't have let himself get separated from them. What if they needed his help and he wasn't there? Fear made his chest contract and his fingers close around his glider staff tightly, and he was about to vault out of there and fly to his friends' aid when something flashed bright gold at his chest.

He blinked down at the topaz, wondering if he'd just imagined the fleeting warmth he'd felt at the spot where the pendant rested. The stone lay innocently still, glittering against the darkness. He closed a hand around the pendant, taking an odd sort of comfort from its solidity.

"Hey, Aang, aren't those your friends?"

His head shot up as his heart began to race. Sure enough, the crowd on the bridge had parted to make way for the four new figures that had just entered the gates. Despite the absence of the distinctive blue water-tribe warrior robe he usually wore, Sokka was immediately recognizable, but Aang would have registered the changes in the older boy's usual appearance a bit more if he hadn't seen _her_ at that exact same moment.

She was walking with her arm linked through her brother's and smiling at the crowd, turning once to glance back at Li Mei as though for reassurance. Aang felt every air molecule drain from his lungs and he stood rooted to the spot, unable to do anything but stare. She was dressed in a high-collared gown the color of a clear, moonlit sky, with a silver starburst embroidered on her left shoulder and a few tiny stars scattered across her chest. The gown left her arms and her right leg bare, the latter owing to a slit that reached just above mid-thigh. The gown molded itself to every dip and curve of her body as though it had always belonged there, and every movement made the blue and silver silk shimmer until she seemed to be surrounded in a nimbus of silvery light. At the corner of the slit was another starburst, with more tiny stars scattered around it. Her hair was gathered up in a loose bun at the back of her head but instead of her usual braid, the tresses were allowed to hang loose, flowing down her back like a dark river although two strands of hair still looped from her forehead to the bun. The silver tiara with its twinkling blue stone was set onto her head, bringing out the clear blue of her eyes. Thin, filigree loops of silver banded her left upper arm and her right thigh, drawing Aang's gaze to the smooth, shapely limbs they adorned. A pair of blue slippers and length of silvery gauze that served as a wrap completed the vision of almost ethereal beauty.

For one long moment, Aang couldn't think. Every brain cell was too busy imprinting the vision that was Katara as she moved toward the center of the bridge with her brother at her side. Of Katara looking as though she belonged to the heavens instead of on earth. She looked stunning, otherworldly—_unreachable_, and Aang's mouth went dry at the mere thought of going up to this exquisite creature and talking to her. He wouldn't be able to do it; he'd go completely tongue-tied. But…this was Katara, right? His best friend, the same girl who'd woken him from his hundred-year-sleep, who'd gone penguin-sledding with him, who'd fought with him and fought _for_ him, who'd held him and comforted him, who'd always been there for him. This was Katara, not some celestial being descended from a palace in the sky. Just Katara.

Only…she had never been "just Katara" to him. And never will be.

He took a step away from the rail, his heart pounding with such force he thought he might black out. Oblivious to his turmoil, Kenji let out a low wolf-whistle as he, Hiro and Jin stared at the new arrivals. "Wow," Kenji muttered. "Are all water-tribe girls like her?"

"No," Aang said, barely aware of the words slipping out of his mouth. "No, she's one of a kind."

Something in his voice must have alerted the other boy. Fortunately Hiro distracted Kenji with an elbow to the ribs before he could ask some awkward questions. "Hey Kenji, why don't you try asking her if she'd take you with her on her travels?" Hiro said jokingly.

"Yeah!" Jin piped up. "Just make sure you stop yakking long enough for her to shoot you down."

"Shut up, you two," Kenji snapped before turning to Aang. "Sorry, Aang, they didn't mean—hey, where'd you go?"

But the young Avatar had disappeared.

o – o – o – o – o

He crouched on the rooftop with his staff propped against his knee, feeling grateful that Grandma Sorab had chosen dark-colored clothing for him. He had picked a particularly shadowy spot atop the pavilion, right beneath some convenient tree branches, where he could watch the spectacle and, maybe, recover some of his composure.

This was proving to be difficult, however, when his eyes had done nothing but drink in the sight of Katara since the moment she arrived.

She, Sokka and Li Mei had drifted off toward one of the wings of the bridge, and Aang could see her head turning this way and that, her eyes intently scanning the crowd. She said something to Sokka and Li Mei, to which they answered with a shake of their heads. It was obvious that she was looking for him. And obvious too, from the questioning glances from the crowd, that the guest of honor had already delayed his grand re-entrance longer than was seemly.

He really ought to go down there and present himself…

_What in all the worlds was he going to say to her?_

How about a simple "hi" to start with? Then maybe he could tell her how pretty she looked. That was how these things usually worked, right? And then maybe something about the weather—

_But she wasn't pretty. She was the most enchanting creature he had ever seen, and just the thought of her made his knees lock and his hands go clammy and his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth—_

Okay, okay. He had to keep calm. He'd faced down firebenders and spirit-monsters and an entire fleet of Fire Nation navy ships. Going down there to where his companions were and talking to Katara shouldn't be so hard. After all, he'd done it every single day for nearly a year.

_But what if she—_

Enough! He was the Avatar, wasn't he?

_Yeah. And she was the girl the Avatar was head over heels in love with._

He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, forcing himself to relax. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that Momo had been reunited with their companions and was now sitting comfortably on Sokka's shoulder. Katara's eyes still searched the crowd, and the troubled look on her face sent a pang of remorse through Aang. He was making her worry about him when he should be getting his butt down there and—

Katara murmured something to Momo, and with unerring instinct the lemur turned and stared straight at him.

Aang jerked aside and clung to the tree trunk, breathing in harsh, shallow gasps. Then reason returned, and he groaned in embarrassment at his situation. Worse, he had gotten the topaz pendant caught on a twig. If he broke this necklace…He shuddered, unwilling to even think about it. Gently untangling the pendant, he felt again that subtle comforting rush and that brief flare of warmth. He sighed. Maybe he could start by getting out of this tree and work up from there.

He landed lightly on the ground, then nearly leaped straight back up again. Something had moved beside him, something that made a queer snorting noise—

"Oh, there you are," a familiar voice said sourly. What Aang had thought was an odd-looking bush turned around and looked at him with Grandfather Wang's beady, green eyes.

Aang recovered himself. "Uh, so are you. What're you doing way over here, Grandfather Wang? Shouldn't you be out there entertaining the guests?" he asked, fully aware of his own hypocrisy.

The old man screwed up his face. "Can't stand parties. Too much talk, too little sense. What about you? Ain't you supposed to be the guest of honor in this little shindig? What're you prowling around in the dark and dropping out of trees for?"

"Well, I, uh—"

"No matter. You're here now." Grandfather Wang stuck a hand in his hair and pulled out a bronze pipe, a roll of dried leaves and a box of matches. He stuffed the leaves in the pipe and lit up, exhaling with obvious satisfaction as Aang tactfully airbended the eye-watering smoke away from him. "So," the old man began. "Tell me what you think of my work."

Aang followed the direction of his gaze to where Katara and Sokka stood chatting with Li Mei. "She's beautiful," he answered on a sigh, still in too much of a daze to realize that Grandfather Wang was referring to Sokka, not Katara.

The old man gave him another sharp stare, then blew out a stream of smoke and turned back toward the bridge. "Ain't she, though?" he said, his voice taking on a crafty tone that Aang missed completely. "I keep telling her she ought to wear her hair down more often, but it does get in the way when she works. But I agree. It's about time a suitable young male appreciated her for her womanly attributes and not just for her promise as a goldsmith."

"Huh?" The words and their meaning trickled into Aang's awareness, causing a moment of confusion as his brain made the necessary connections. He focused on Li Mei, ready to make some sort of polite rejoinder, and instead found himself staring at the young firebender in silent bafflement. She was dressed in pink and her black hair wasn't twisted up and held in place by a pair of sticks anymore but left to hang straight down her back, the black tresses framing her pale face. Aang narrowed his eyes, an odd sense of déjà vu stealing over him. Really weird. He felt as though he'd seen her before, or someone who looked very much like her, but as far as he knew, he'd only met her just this morning and had felt nothing toward her then, except maybe surprised pleasure when she turned out to be a firebender.

So why did she seem so familiar to him now?

"She keeps a piece of rose quartz in her pocket all the time," Grandfather Wang went on as though he hadn't just dropped a boulder across Aang's stream of consciousness. "Says it's to remind her of someone dear to her. Poor thing, really. So young and she's already lost so much. Wish there was somebody who could make her happy. There's only so much a grumpy old man can do, you know."

"I'm sure there'll be someone," Aang said a tad hurriedly. "Uh, about this rose quartz. You wouldn't happen to have any extra ones lying around, would you? If you do, I've got—" he narrowed his eyes as he mentally counted the money he had in his pockets, "—one copper piece that says I can have it."

"_One_ copper piece?"

"Okay, _two_ copper pieces. Good deal, huh?"

Grandfather Wang stared at him as though he'd just announced his intention to beat himself over the head with his own staff. Then a fox-like expression slid over his face and his lips stretched in a smoke-wreathed smile. "Listen, Aang, keep your money and buy some bird seed with it. I think I've got a cabochon-cut rose quartz I can give you. Guaranteed to win you all the love and romance you've been dreaming of. I know, because I bended it myself."

Aang brightened. "Really? You will?"

"Sure!" Grandfather Wang waved his pipe magnanimously. "For you, boy, it ain't a prob—"

"_There you are!_"

The row of bushes that had concealed them from the rest of the multicolored multitude was suddenly ripped apart. A pair of hands grabbed both Aang and Grandfather Wang by their collars and yanked them out until they were standing sheepishly front of Soe, who looked mad enough to drag them both by their ears, Avatar and senior male or not. "Do you know how long we've been waiting for you two?" she scolded. "Grandma Sorab is already here, but she can't start the dinner without her fiancé at her side and with the guest of honor missing."

Aang winced. "Sorry. We were just—"

"Just shut up and go with the flow," Grandfather Wang hissed at him.

"No time for that! Go meet your guests!" With a none-too-gentle push, Soe sent them out into the circle of lights at the edge of the pond, and the hapless pair had no choice but to make for the bridge where the crowd waited for them. Aang smiled and waved at the guests, aware that he probably looked more embarrassed and nervous than anything and praying that he wouldn't freeze up at the worst possible moment. When he finally reached the bridge and the last of his options, he raised his head and looked straight into a pair of shocked, ice-blue eyes.

Warmth swept through him as every fiber of his being reached out to her, and he smiled. "Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Sorry I'm late."

o – o – o – o – o

Aang was late. She couldn't believe it. And here she'd thought the four of them would be the last ones to arrive. When they'd entered the gates of the strangely-named tea house to find what must have been half of Tai Shen already inside, Katara had been sure of it, and the only thing that kept her from shriveling in mortification was the prospect of seeing Aang again very soon.

Except that "very soon" turned out to be "twenty minutes and counting."

She gazed around at the well-dressed, sparkling crowd, feeling intensely grateful that the three of them hadn't insisted on coming to this fancy party dressed in their usual clothing. She watched in amusement as Sokka's bearing soon took on a definite swagger as he found himself the center of attention of a flock of admiring girls, but in spite of this, he didn't abandoned her side the minute they arrived as Katara had been expecting him to, choosing instead to take her arm and escort her toward the bridge. His unspoken encouragement touched her, reminding her that there were other sides to her brother besides the sarcastic idiot he often appeared to be. But perhaps she shouldn't be too surprised. Her brother had won the heart of a princess, after all.

And Aang wasn't around yet.

Li Mei steered them toward one of the wings of the bridge, assuring them that this spot had the best lighting. Katara had no complaints, as the position afforded her a good view of the place, and she continuously scanned the crowd for a glimpse of her friend. At one point, she noticed a group of boys being shooed out of a pagoda. Sokka pointed them out as the kids Aang had been playing with earlier, and when she caught their eye she smiled and gave a friendly wave. She considered asking if them if they'd seen Aang, but decided against it when she noted the besotted looks on the boys' faces. Flattering, true, but she needed a straight answer and she doubted she'd be getting it from them.

And _still_ no sign of Aang.

"Katara, will you stop fidgeting? Aang's going to be here," Sokka muttered as he aimed a smile at a group of girls.

"I'm not fidgeting, I'm just—Sokka, what if something happened to him?"

"_Nothing's_ happened to him or we'd have heard the explosions already. Come on, Katara. This is the closest thing we can get to being celebrities, so relax and enjoy the moment."

"Old Phong says Aang's already here," Li Mei informed them when she rejoined them. "He arrived with Kenji and the others before anyone else did."

Katara was officially stumped. "If he's already here, then where _is_ he?"

They heard a familiar chittering noise, then Momo appeared and dropped upon Sokka's shoulder. "Momo, where have you been?" Sokka demanded. "Take it easy on the clothes, okay? This happens to be real silk—hey, is it just me or did you gain weight in the last eight hours?"

Katara absently reached up to scratch Momo's head, her eyes still scanning the crowd. "Momo, you wouldn't happen to know where Aang is, would you?"

Momo blinked once, then stared up at a corner of the pavilion's roof that was half-concealed by tree branches. Katara, Sokka and Li Mei all stared at the spot, but other than a faint rustling caused by the breeze, saw nothing unusual. Katara sighed, unable to keep a worm of worry from twisting up her insides. "Where can he be?"

Li Mei laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He'll be here soon, Katara. Maybe he just stepped outside for a moment. Or maybe he's just feeling shy."

"Aang _shy_?" Katara and Sokka chorused. "Are you kidding?" Sokka added with a bark of laughter. "Aang once jumped onstage and _danced_ in the middle of a fire festival. There isn't a shy bone in that kid's body, let me tell you."

Katara looked away as Sokka regaled Li Mei with some of Aang's more outrageous stunts. Her memory of that incident at the fire festival was a little different from her brother's. Sure, Aang had been all but bouncing up and down trying to get the juggler to pick him as a volunteer so he could watch some real firebending up close, heedless of the fact that they were smack dab in the middle of an entire town of hostile firebenders. But Sokka wasn't the one who'd been tied to a chair then forced to watch helplessly as a dragon-shaped stream of fire dove straight at her. She wasn't a firebender enjoying a performance; she was a water-tribe girl who had seen her village burned down and her mother killed by the same flames that were racing toward her at that moment. She'd closed her eyes and whimpered, then suddenly Aang was there, his festival mask falling away as the twister spinning from his outstretched hands tore the dragon-flame apart and turned it into a shower of confetti.

And _then_ he'd danced, while the crowd booed their displeasure. And Katara agreed with Sokka: what Aang had done was reckless and dumb, but she couldn't help thinking that he'd done it for _her._ It didn't matter that Aang had just been his usual impulsive, heroic self and that he would have done the same for anyone. That time, that moment, he had done it for _her_, and that image of Aang standing between her and fiery death had scored itself in deep, bold lines into her memory.

Now if only the real Aang would show up, everything would be just peachy.

"Grandma Sorab's here," Katara heard Li Mei whisper, snapping her out of her reverie. Sure enough, the town's matriarch, looking impressive in an ivory gown and more jade beads around her throat, hands and her triple-loop of hair, was cutting through the crowd like a battleship among a fleet of canoes. She caught sight of the trio standing on the bridge and headed toward them, her features spreading into a smile of genuine delight.

"My goodness, just look at you!" she exclaimed. "You look dashing, young water-tribe warrior. I see now why all the girls have their eyes on this bridge. My fiancé certainly did well with you."

"Oh, he had help," Sokka drawled.

Grandma Sorab laughed then turned toward the two girls. "Oh my, what can I say? Katara, my dear, you are lovely. Li Mei couldn't have chosen a more perfect model for that gown and the filigree silver set. And Li Mei, your work is improving in leaps and bounds. Congratulations."

The two girls murmured their thanks, and Li Mei added modestly: "It was Grandfather who faceted the tourmaline, Grandma Sorab."

Grandma Sorab sniffed. "Yes, and you are still the better silversmith. Beauty makes no distinctions among its worshippers; only vanity does. Speaking of which, I think it's about time to get this dinner officially started. Where is my fiancé and the other host for this evening? And where is the guest of honor, for that matter?"

Katara and Sokka exchanged glances, only then noticing that Grandfather Wang had vanished, while Li Mei looked abashed. "He was right behind me when we arrived. As for the Avatar, nobody has seen him at all."

"Indeed?" Grandma Sorab lifted an eyebrow, and Katara wondered if she'd only imagined the way the thoughtful hazel gaze had lingered over her. "How strange. Aang has kindly allowed himself to be my model for tonight, but I'm afraid my daughters and granddaughters and I might have caused him some undue distress. He was in a bit of a hurry to leave my care," she said with a touch of rueful humor.

"You mean a bunch of _girls_ had to dress Aang up?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"Why, yes," Grandma Sorab answered. "Despite his restlessness, he was truly wonderful to work with, and I think some of my granddaughters have become quite infatuated with him. I am seriously considering finding some monks and sending my grandson Kenji to train with them."

Katara glanced narrow-eyed at her brother. Sokka's eyes were rolling around in their sockets and his cheeks had inflated and turned bright red. "Laugh, and I'll scuff up your new pants," she warned him in a voice only he could hear.

Meanwhile, Grandma Sorab had dispatched several people to discreetly turn the entire place upside down until the two missing people were found. "Check the bushes," she instructed. "If you smell tobacco smoke, that's probably Wang. As for the young Avatar, watch for the flash of an imperial topaz. I doubt you will have to search for long."

"The Avatar is wearing the imperial topaz, Grandma?" Li Mei said in amazement. "I didn't think you'd already finished with that one. But—oh, how perfect for him."

"Yes, I thought so, too. I've never seen a spirit that burned as brightly as his, and I do believe that boy will be the best-looking Avatar this world has seen."

This time, there was no mistaking the twinkle in her eyes as she stared straight at Katara. Li Mei laughed and shook her head. "Grandma, aren't you supposed to be engaged?"

"I suppose I am." Grandma Sorab sighed. "Still, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the view."

A rising murmur at the edge of the crowd interrupted the increasingly surreal conversation, to Katara's relief. People were calling greetings to someone she couldn't quite make out, but the gasps of "Avatar Aang!" and "Grandfather Wang!" made the identities of the newcomers very clear. Katara pushed her way toward the center of the bridge, her heart pounding with an emotion she didn't care to name. She caught sight of a familiar bald head and its distinctive arrow-shaped tattoo and sucked in a breath, ready to tear into him for disappearing on them like that.

Then the crowd parted and he stood there, his glider staff held at his side. He looked up, and a pair of gray eyes met hers. "Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka," he said with a smile. "Sorry I'm late."

And the world continued to move, and time continued to flow. People milled around them and voices spoke over her head—her brother, saying the words she had intended to say, Li Mei and Grandma Sorab, Grandfather Wang shuffling guiltily behind Aang, even Momo—and Aang responded to them in turn. At least, she assumed that he did. His lips moved and she could hear his voice washing over her, but she couldn't understand the words, couldn't even recognize the faces around her. Everyone else had faded into insignificance. Except for him.

Aang was all that she could see. Aang, looking the way he did in a high-collared shirt and loose pants made of charcoal gray silk the exact same shade as his eyes, with a stylized firebird with wings stretched upward embroidered in red and gold thread across the front. The silk hugged his shoulders and chest, and the way it shimmered beneath the light brought out the paleness of his skin and the startling blue of his tattoos. Long sleeves were folded back to the elbow, revealing the tattoos on his arms, and a gray sash was tied at his waist. Lying against his chest, right between the firebird's wings, was a stunning yellow gemstone hanging from a thin silver chain. The shades of red, gold and dark gray heightened his already striking features, somehow calling attention to the curious fusion of contrasting qualities that made up the young Avatar. He looked boyish and innocent, every inch the lighthearted young monk she had always known, but there was something darker and far older in there too—the suggestion of controlled power and the promise of danger. It was…undeniably attractive. _He_ was undeniably attractive, and she found herself wondering, when her mind regained the ability to process rational thought again, how she could have missed noticing how handsome he really was.

_Maybe because you've never really looked before_, whispered the same persistent voice that had been hounding her all day. Well, she was looking now, and it felt as though she had only opened her eyes for the first time tonight.

_Oh no, not this_, she thought as she watched him walk across the bridge toward her, laughing sheepishly at some comment Sokka made. The sight of his smile made strange things happen to her insides, and her arms came up to hug herself, wrapping the silver veil around her tightly as though it could hold back the bewildering tide of emotions. _This can't be happening. Not to him, not to me, not _now…

Then he was beside her, close enough for her to catch the faint hint of sandalwood mingling with the familiar wind-and-musk scent that was so uniquely Aang. It was all she could do not to lean over and breathe him in. She must have made a sound, because he halted and turned toward her, his eyes focusing on a point just above her shoulder. "Hi, Katara. You and Li Mei look great."

The words felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over her head, snapping her out of her trance-like state. _I and Li Mei?_ She glanced over said shoulder at Li Mei, who was smiling sweetly at him. I _and _Li Mei? She forced herself to get over the slight to her vanity and give him some sort of response. "Uh, thanks, Aang," she muttered. "So do you."

"Thanks. Grandma Sorab and the others did all the work." He gave her a quick, nervous grin, then nodded toward the pavilion doors, beside which Grandma Sorab and Grandfather Wang were already waiting. "We better go in. Grandma Sorab says the hosts are supposed to usher the guests of honor in first and sit them down before anyone else can follow."

Before she could reply, the two of them were shoved forward by a firm hand to their backs. "Will you two stop pussyfooting around and get moving? People are starving to death out here," Sokka said as he marched them toward Grandma Sorab and Grandfather Wang. "Here they are," he announced to the amused older couple. "Now let's get this dinner started."

The awkwardness vanished, and they were once again Aang, Katara and Sokka, three companions on yet another one of their bizarre adventures. "Sokka! A little bit of class, please!" Katara hissed at her brother, all the while feeling the urge to hug him instead out of sheer gratitude. Aang laughed as well, relief and his usual eagerness shining on his face. Then Grandma Sorab opened the doors with the grumbling assistance of her loving fiancé, and the dinner had officially begun.

o – o – o – o – o

Katara fidgeted, trying to find the most comfortable position to sit in. The cushion was wide and fluffy, but sitting on it while wearing a slinky gown with a slit halfway to her throat was proving to be challenging. Finally, she folded her legs underneath her and propped herself on one hand, knowing that she would have to shift positions again soon if she wanted to be able to stand up on her own power again.

Aang, who was sitting to her right, noticed her squirming and leaned over to whisper: "Katara, are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's just this gown. It's so hard to get comfortable in it. Why do fancy dresses have to be so complicated?" She rearranged her legs and shifted her weight again. "There. That's better," she said with a sigh before turning to Aang.

He was staring wide-eyed down at her legs. Specifically, at her thigh, where the silver filigree circle sparkled against her skin. He hastily averted his gaze, his cheeks turning an interesting shade of red. "I, uh, those silver bands are pretty," he stammered. "They look really nice on you."

"Um, thanks," Katara said as her own cheeks grew warm, although a decidedly less-than-virtuous part of her was purring with satisfaction. At least he was noticing _her_ now, not just her and Li Mei, as though they were identical parts of a set. "This is mostly Li Mei's work, though," she said in an effort to give credit where credit was due. "She said this color combination looked better on people with winter complexions, whatever that meant, and—"

And he wasn't listening to her, she realized. Somewhat put out, she followed the direction of his gaze toward the opposite side of the room where Grandma Sorab sat with Grandfather Wang and Li Mei. The other girl was watching some old man who was giving a speech about the great fortune of Tai Shen for having the Avatar and his companions grace them with their presence. As though feeling the weight of their stares, Li Mei turned and smiled at Aang and Katara, and Katara couldn't help noticing how Aang smiled back at her. She turned away before the other girl could notice her frown. Okay, she was probably just imagining things. Or maybe she was hungry. That's right. So hungry she was imagining things.

"Finally!" Sokka grunted from Aang's other side as Uncle Whosit finished his speech. "_Now_ maybe they'll serve the food."

"And now, a few words from our guest of honor himself!"

The crowd broke into wild applause. The trio looked blank, then as one Katara and Sokka swiveled their heads toward Aang, who shrank away from the siblings' vaguely accusing stares. "What?" he protested. "What did _I_ do?"

Sokka actually growled. "Unless you want me chewing on your leg, Aang, you'll keep it short."

"But what am I supposed to say?" Aang hissed back as he eyed the cheering crowd.

"Just a couple of sentences. No, just _one_ sentence. No, just one _word_—"

"Just talk about how happy you are to be here and congratulate Grandfather Wang and Grandma Sorab on their upcoming wedding," Katara instructed. "Relax, Aang. You can do it."

He looked at her, and she gave him an encouraging nod. For a brief moment their gazes locked, and when his hand moved between them, seeking hers out, she curled her fingers around his without a thought. Her breath caught as something within her seemed to flow out to him, but then he let go and faced the audience, leaving her to wonder if she was the only one who felt it. At a pointed look from Li Mei, he picked up the small cup of wine set in front of him and raised it, prompting everyone else to raise their own cups. "Uh, thanks for inviting us here tonight. It's really an honor," he said with nervous formality. "And, uh, congratulations to Grandma Sorab and Grandfather Wang. By the way, thanks for letting us use the honeymoon house for a while."

"Just don't get too comfortable!" someone hooted, causing the audience to laugh uproariously. Aang's expression grew frozen while Katara and Sokka groaned into their hands.

"Shut up and let him speak, Ton!" another voice yelled. "You're lettin' your envy get the better of you." This was again met with raucous laughter, this time at the first speaker's expense.

"Um, anyway, thanks," Aang continued when the laughter died down. "And, uh, I guess now we could, we could—" From across the room, Li Mei mouthed something, and Aang nodded. "I guess we could have a toast. Here's to, uh, to good food." With every eye in the room watching him, Aang brought his cup to his lips, steeled himself, and knocked it back. And promptly fell over backward, coughing and gagging while everyone cheered and followed suit.

"Aang!" Katara pulled him upright as his color gradually returned to normal. "Are you okay?"

Watery gray eyes blinked once or twice before focusing on her. "I think so," he wheezed. "I feel like Zuko went to work on the inside my stomach, but other than that..."

Katara smiled, but Sokka poked her on the arm before she could speak. "Katara, drink up! This is a _toast_, remember?"

"Oh, right." She picked up her cup and without thinking swallowed the contents in one gulp, and ended up doubling over and gasping for breath as the fiery fumes squeezed tears out of the corners of her own eyes. "Okay," she panted. "I think we've had enough wine for tonight."

"No chance of that," Aang said in a low voice as several girls came in bearing trays, while a few more went about the tables refilling their cups. Soon, the tables were laden with steaming bowls of crabmeat soup and platters of roasted meats and fish covered with golden sauces, prawns grilled in butter, stir-fried vegetables laid out in woven bamboo frames, rice mixed with bits of chopped egg and onion stalks, spring rolls and dumplings. Katara hid a smile when she noticed that the girls hovered around Sokka a little longer than necessary, cooing flirtatiously. Her amusement vanished, however, when she found that they were doing the same thing to Aang, who was rubbing the back of his head and smiling in embarrassment at the unaccustomed treatment. When the girls with the jars of wine came over to refill their cups, both Katara and Aang tried to refuse as politely as they could. The girls were insistent, though, and Katara had been about to cave in, figuring that they could just pour the wine into a nearby potted plant as soon as they left, when Li Mei appeared.

She tapped the girls on their shoulders. "It's all right. I've got a special brew for the Avatar and his companions." She produced a clay flask from the folds of her sleeve, and Katara blanched. It was going to be even harder to refuse Li Mei, and she had the gown on to prove it.

The girls left and Li Mei knelt between Aang and Katara, the flask held out expectantly. She giggled when she caught the expressions on their faces. "Oh no, it's all right. It's just water," she explained as she poured the clear liquid into their cups. "I didn't think you'd enjoy the wine much. It's a little, well, potent. Sokka? Would you like some water too?"

"Are you kidding?" Sokka cried expansively as he downed his second cup of wine. Or was it his third? "This wine's great! This food's great! Everything's great, and you want me to drink _water_?"

Katara and Aang both stared at him as they worked out the logic of what he'd said. Li Mei giggled again and Sokka gave her a wide, slightly alcoholic grin. Aang took a cautious sip from his cup, then gulped down all the contents. "Now _that's_ good water."

"Anything for the comfort of the Avatar and his companions," Li Mei said with a smile. "In case you're wondering, Aang, I asked the chef to make some special dishes for you. I didn't think a monk would eat meat. Uh, not yours, though, Sokka. We know a warrior needs his meat," she added hastily when Sokka spluttered.

"Wow, you really thought of everything, Li Mei," Aang said as he helped himself.

Li Mei flushed with pleasure. "Thank you. Well, eat up. The entertainment will start soon."

"Wuh enguhaymuh?" Aang mumbled around a mouthful of dumpling.

To Katara's surprise, Li Mei actually blushed. "Oh, some singing and dancing and maybe a demonstration of earthbending, Tai Shen-style. I have to go. Enjoy yourselves."

She laid a hand on Katara's and Aang's shoulders as she stood up, and Katara thought her hand lingered on Aang just a few seconds longer. Aang watched her go, his gray eyes staring intently at the figure in pink as she wove through the crowd, her black hair swinging gently at her back. Finally, Katara couldn't take it any longer. "Aang, your food's getting cold," she reminded him, nudging him a little, and frowned a bit more when he stiffened in surprise.

"Huh? What? Oh, right." He bent down to his food, but Katara, who was watching him from the corner of her eye, didn't miss how distracted he seemed to be. Annoyed at how silly she was being, she sighed and picked up her chopsticks to start in on the food, which turned out to be as delicious as they appeared to be.

"Katara, you and Li Mei talked, right?" Aang suddenly asked.

Her appetite fled. "A bit, yeah."

"Did she mention anything about—oh, never mind."

Katara found herself gripping her chopsticks. "About what?" she asked casually as she forced her hand to relax.

He shook his head dismissively. "Nothing. It was just a dumb idea. Grandfather Wang's worried about her, you know."

"About Li Mei?" Okay, now she sounded stupid. But darn it, she really didn't want to talk about Li Mei anymore. "Is something wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure. He said he wished there was someone who could make her happy." He paused as his eyes were drawn once again toward the young goldsmith. "I was just wondering if she had a reason to be unhappy."

Katara stared at him, taking in his obvious concern, then looked away as the food she had eaten turned to lead in her gut. There was a faint rattling noise, and with a start she realized that her hand was shaking, causing the chopsticks to tap erratically against her bowl. She made a startled little sound and dropped the chopsticks, which clattered off the table and onto the floor between her and Aang. Blushing with embarrassment, she reached down to pick them up, only to find, as her fingers closed around a warm hand, that Aang had beaten her to it.

She looked up, and her eyes met his across a distance that suddenly felt both too close for comfort and too far away. He looked just as shocked as she was, but as they continued to stare at each other, his gray eyes softened, filling with an emotion that left her breathless, and the crazy thought occurred to her that if she leaned over just a bit more, she could touch her lips to his—

"Hey, Katara! You gonna eat that?"

Aang was suddenly pushed aside and Sokka's flushed, happy face loomed into Katara's vision. Her brother eyed her blearily, cocking his head this way and that, then let out a bellowing laugh. "Hah! Knew it! The wine'sh good shtuff, huh? We oughta bring some with ush when we leave."

"I—I wasn't drinking any wine!" she denied hotly.

"Yeah? Then why'sh your face all red?" Before she could reply, Sokka blinked down at Aang, who was struggling to push the older boy's elbow off his ribcage. "Hey, you too! Waitaminute. You're too young to be drinking, Aang. Then again, you're too young to be traipshing around the world fighting firebenders, so who caresh, right? C'mon, how about a toasht?"

Aang finally airlifted Sokka off him, although the older boy barely noticed it. "Sokka, maybe you should take it easy on the wine."

Sokka shook his head. "Nuh-uh. C'mon, guysh, what's the point of being in a party thish great if you're not going to enjoy every moment of it? Everyone'sh pretty much plashtered, anyway."

A quick glance around the room confirmed Sokka's observation. "Not everyone, Sokka," Aang countered. "Look, Li Mei's not drunk."

Katara gritted her teeth. Li Mei _again_?

"Neither are Kenji and Hiro and—okay, looks like Jin's had it," the young Avatar conceded.

"They will be later," Sokka predicted. "Those three aren't drunk yet because they're part of the entertainment. I heard from the guy beshide me. They'll be doing the bending demonshtration. A couple of earthbendersh and a firebender. Thish oughta be interesting."

Aang seemed to perk up, which annoyed Katara even further. "Really? Li Mei's going to do some firebending?"

"Yup. Now about that toasht. You call it, Aang."

Aang picked up his cup of water and, reluctantly, Katara did the same. She didn't miss the way he had avoided her gaze since Sokka had butted in between them, and neither did she miss the way he kept looking over at Li Mei with anticipation. _Is it going to be like this from now on?_ she wondered, staring miserably into her own cup. _Will I be reading things into his every move and making up meanings when there really is nothing there?_

"Oookay, how about to firebenders who aren't being a pain in the neck for once?"

"Yeah, I'll drink to that!"

Katara raised her cup to her lips and willed herself not to choke as the water slid down her throat, wishing that she really _was_ drinking wine. At least then she would've been able to explain the tears that were stinging her eyes.

_(To Be Continued…)_

* * *

_**Author's Notes, aka And Now the Bad News:** _

_Er, I promised a two-parter, didn't I? Um, I'm really, really sorry. I was watching the word-count, and it was turning out even longer than I thought. So now, it's a three-parter. Besides, I wanted to put something up quick so I could make Scorpiored112's deadline. I have a sinking feeling that I didn't, so Scorpiored112, if you're reading this and it's September, I am sooo sorry! (And I hope you had a nice vacation.)_

_Once again, thank you so very much for the inspiring and constructive reviews. You guys are so darned nice. Thanks in particular to darktank, frozenheat, Liselle129 (thanks for the comment about the descriptions. I shortened some parts and cut out some of the descriptive lines. Hope that helps some, although I'll probably be going through it with a pair of scissors again soon), .Lady.Meister. (thanks for the tip. I deliberately withheld the description of Aang's and Katara's outfits in the first part because it seemed better to see them from a his-and-hers perspective, hope that worked, though), me-obviously (well, here's half of the party at least, sorry for the wait), N1cindyfan, XxSilverMoonFrostxX (more fluff to come, the night's not over yet), Niana Kuonji (you were right about Aang ), BN, TeleIce, daydream11, Gizmo, Stormy Thoughts- Firey Pen, and kairuthefrog._

_Oh, and special thanks to Melospiza for telling me what the heck those bird-things were called. Geez, an ostrich-horse. Now why didn't I think of that? I already put in the changes in the past chapters, so thanks again!_

_This part and the next was something like a blast from the past for me. I remember what it was like to have a crush massive enough to register on the Richter scale, although I was more of the shy-stalker type, the one who would secretly videotape the object of my affections, then run screaming in the opposite direction if said object so much as looked at me. (Gah, I feel old.) I hope I still got the characters' basic personalities down, although I know this part is shaping up to be a major deviation from the canon personalities._

_Once again, I'm really sorry about the extension of this chapter, and thank you so much for still reading this fic.  
_


	8. Chapter 6, Part 3 finally!

Um, is anyone still out there?

Here it is, the last part of the extremely long three-parter, a.k.a. the longest 24 hours in fan fiction history. I am so, so sorry for the length of time it took me to complete this installment. Um. Maybe I should just put the rest of my author's notes (a.k.a. sorry excuses) and acknowledgements at the bottom of the page and just get on with the story.

**Warning Part 1: This chapter is really long. I hope you guys meant it when you said you didn't mind long chapters.**

**Warning Part 2: I'm well and truly in AU territory now and dealing with a situation that hasn't happened yet in the show (no matter how hard I wish it). I tried my best to keep my characters still in character, but I must warn you that they are going to deviate at times. I hope they don't do it too much.**

**Doctor's Advisory: Amount of fluff contained in this chapter may cause dizziness, nausea and occasional epileptic seizures. It is recommended that readers have medication on hand.**

* * *

**VI**

**Part 3**

Three minutes into the entertainment, Aang was seriously considering taking Sokka's route and downing more wine. Either that or plug up his ears with a couple of chicken bones. It wasn't that the bearded, middle-aged man who was doing the singing and the trio of dancing ladies were _bad_… Okay, they were, Aang admitted when the man hit a series of notes that couldn't possibly belong to any known musical system. The audience went wild, however, and when the three plump dancing ladies did a mincing turn, waving their fans coquettishly, the audience reacted as though the trio had just performed a feat of death-defying acrobatics.

"Whoo! Yeah! Do the movesh, ladiesh!" Sokka yelled and after two tries managed to sling an arm across Aang's shoulders, nearly bearing him down to the floor in the process. "Hey, Aang! Whaddya think of the show, huh? It'sh grrreat, huh?"

"Yeah, Sokka, it sure is," Aang agreed as he deftly lifted Sokka's arm off and pushed him back onto his own cushion. The older boy gave him an unfocused grin before tipping over to the other side, where the red-faced, jolly old man who was by now his new best friend was waiting with yet another wine jar. Aang shook his head then glanced sidelong at Katara, who was watching the performance with horrified fascination. Certain that her attention was focused elsewhere, he allowed his gaze to linger, tracing the curves of her forehead and cheek and hair with his eyes. When the singer hit another sour note, Katara winced and bit her lip, and Aang clenched his fists in his lap to keep from reaching up and gently tugging her lip free with his finger.

He groaned silently and took a deep breath to clear his head. The dinner had been pure torture. It was taking all his self-control just to act normally around her, to keep her from noticing how a single glance from her made his heart trip like crazy. And then there had been that moment when she'd dropped her chopsticks…He swallowed convulsively. That had been _way_ too close, and he had to make sure it didn't happen again or he might end up doing something really, really stupid.

Like lean over and kiss her.

Because he wasn't so sure he could stop himself if it happened again. As it was, it was only Sokka's timely interruption that kept him from making an absolute fool of himself. He couldn't forget what she'd said to Li Mei earlier, and he somehow doubted that the girl who saw him as a sweet little guy and a good friend would appreciate his suddenly acting like a lovesick idiot around her. He could end up embarrassing her and making things awkward between them, thereby ruining the evening for both of them. So not tonight. Someday, maybe, but not tonight.

He just wished it wasn't so difficult to remember this whenever he looked at her.

He glanced at her again and caught her watching him from underneath her lashes, her expression oddly pensive, and concern instantly overrode any high-minded resolutions he might have made. "Katara? What's the matter?" he asked softly.

Guilt flickered briefly in her eyes. "Oh, nothing," she said, turning back toward the performers. "I just figured something out, that's all."

"What's that?"

She raised her cup ruefully. "Why they serve the wine at the beginning of dinner."

"You mean, before the song and dance number, right?" he replied with a grin.

"_Ducks swim in pairs, butterflies fly together and so should weee,"_ the singer crooned while the audience howled with inebriated delight.

"Now what ever gave you that idea, Aang?" Katara asked, completely straight-faced.

Aang's lips twitched, then the two of them dissolved into giggles. "Good one, Katara," he chortled, trying to contain the rush of love and affection for her. Beneath all that untouchable loveliness, she was still Katara. His best friend, his teacher…his strength…his life …

"Hey, Aang. I believe this is yours."

Aang snapped out of the adoring haze he was rapidly sinking into and turned toward Kenji and Hiro, who were holding up a dopey-looking Jin between them. Kenji raised his arm, upon which Momo was draped like a furry muff. The lemur cracked one eye open, hiccupped, then made a clumsy leap toward Aang's shoulder. He missed it completely, tumbled into Aang's lap, staggered around a bit and finally ended up lying somewhere underneath the table. When Aang shot Kenji a questioning look, the other boy shrugged. "He got into our cups. So, Aang, aren't you going to introduce us?"

He became aware that the three boys weren't even looking at him, but were staring at Katara instead with expressions ranging from admiring to smitten. Kenji in particular looked downright worshipful, and Aang would have laughed if he hadn't known exactly what they were feeling. "Sorry. Katara, these are Kenji, Hiro and Jin. Guys, this is my friend Katara of the Water Tribe."

Katara smiled and bowed. "Nice to meet you."

"N-n-nice to meet you, too, Katara," Kenji said in a high-pitched voice. "I just want you to know, and you've probably been told this before, I mean geez, of course you have, but, uh, what I meant to say was that you really are the p-p-prettiest girl in this whole—"

"So now that you've seen Tai Shen's Cultural Society perform, what do you guys think?" Hiro said, interrupting Kenji's semi-coherent rant.

Aang and Katara exchanged glances. "They're great," Aang finally said.

Hiro snorted. "Aw, go ahead and be honest. They're awful, ain't they? But they've improved a lot over the years."

"Improved?" Katara said disbelievingly. "How?"

"Well, people've stopped listening to them while sober, for one thing," Hiro said with a shrug. "That helps."

"_And my love for you will last forever, sweetheaaart,_" the singer warbled the last line as the ladies twirled their fans with a final flourish. The drunken audience applauded enthusiastically.

"I heard you guys will be doing the bending demonstration," Katara was saying.

"Yeah," Kenji said. "Just don't expect anything impressive. It's just a bit of a light-show, really."

"Actually, Kenji, we're on in two minutes," Hiro reminded him.

"And it doesn't bother you that you'll be working with a firebender?" Katara went on carefully.

Kenji was surprised into a laugh. "What, you mean Li Mei? 'Course not. We've done this act about a hundred times. Li Mei never loses control. If she were an earthbender, she'd be as good as either Hiro or me. Heck, even better."

"Oh. That's nice," Katara said with only the barest hint of doubt. "Good luck with your performance. You'll do great, I'm sure."

She smiled again, and Aang could practically see the smoke coming out of Kenji's ears. "Th-that's right, we're going to perform, aren't we?" he babbled. "Yeah, we are. Haha, who knew? And you'll be watching us, won't you? Yeah, of course you will, that's why you're here—"

Groaning, Hiro got to his feet and took hold of the back of Kenji's collar. "All right, time for some fresh air. No way am I bending with you while you're in your gibbering idiot mode. Excuse us for a moment." He escaped toward the door, dragging his friend behind him.

Aang and Katara turned toward Jin, whose dreamy smile never wavered although the rest of him was swaying like a reed in a breeze. "You'rre prrretteee," he slurred.

"Um, thanks," Katara said.

"Rrreally prrretteee," Jin insisted. "Rrreally, rrreeeaally—"

Hiro reappeared and grabbed the younger boy in a headlock. "Hahaha," he said to Katara, somehow managing to convey in three syllables the depths of his embarrassment at being the lone straight guy in a troop of comedians, before vanishing toward the door again with Jin in tow.

Katara gave Aang a bemused look. "Interesting friends you've got there."

"Yeah." Aang smiled. "They sort of remind me of my friends back in the Southern Air Temple." The difference was that his friends had only seen the one thing that made him different from them instead of the many things they all had in common. The memory of his friends' rejection still hurt, although the pain was dulled now by the companionship he had found with Katara and Sokka. He was glad that Li Mei had found a place where she could truly be accepted and appreciated, despite the deep lines of prejudice the war had drawn between the races.

Wait a minute. Maybe that explained the niggling feeling that he'd met Li Mei somewhere before. Maybe he was sensing a kindred spirit in her.

"Aang? Are you okay?"

He looked up into Katara's questioning gaze. Her ice-blue eyes drew him in, inviting him to lose himself in them, and his half-formed resolve to keep his feelings for her hidden began to melt like snow beneath a high-noon sun. "What?" he croaked.

"I said, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" he said desperately. "Come on, Katara, why wouldn't I be? I was only—Li Mei!" he called out with blatant relief when he spotted young firebender heading toward them. "That's funny. I was just thinking about you," he went on, overcome by gratitude at yet another timely save and unaware of the sudden drop in temperature coming from the general direction of Katara.

Li Mei paused at their table, looking harried. "Oh, you're probably wondering why this bending demonstration is taking so long. By the way, have you seen Kenji and Hiro?"

"They went outside just a minute ago."

"Hey, hey, Li Mei!" Sokka cut in, then blinked. "Hey, that rhymed, dinnit?" he said, laughing. "Sho when you gonna set thish place on fire? Hah! 'Caushe the party'sh not hot enough! Hahaha! How 'bout a toasht?"

"Thank you, but maybe later," Li Mei replied, "or I just might set this place on fire."

Sokka waved his cup in the air. "Good anshwer. 'Caushe the lasht thing we want ish a drunk firebender, right guysh? Jusht t'let you know," he added, his voice dropping to what he thought was a warning rumble. "I'm a water-tribe warriorerer. Warr_ior_. Pretty good wi'm' boom'rang and all. And Katara'sh a waterbender and Aang here'sh the Avatar. Sho no funny business, firebender. We're watchin' you."

Li Mei nodded solemnly. "I'm well aware of who you are and what you can do. Especially the Avatar, to whom we owe so much." She smiled at Aang, who couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, isn't that great?" Katara muttered underneath her breath, sounding so caustic that both Aang and Sokka blinked at her.

Fortunately, Kenji and Hiro came barreling in that moment. "Okay, we're here," Hiro said to Li Mei. "Let's do this. Oh no, you don't." He quickly steered Kenji away when he noticed the older boy smiling foggily at Katara again.

"I hope you enjoy our performance," Li Mei said before hurrying away. They took their positions in the center of the hall, with Hiro and Kenji standing in front and on either side of Li Mei. In front of the boys were several black velvet pouches, the folds concealing the contents from the audience. As Grandma Sorab gave a short introduction, serving girls came in to remove the paper shades on the lanterns, exposing the flames. At the same time, Sokka's drinking buddy leaned toward the young Avatar, overbalanced, and fell against Sokka, who in turn slid off his cushion and right into Aang. "You kidsh ain't worried, are ya?" old man asked, oblivious to the fact that he was now snuggled up against the guests of honor.

"Hah!" Sokka emphasized his point by downing another cup of wine.

"Not…really..." Aang grunted as he shoved the other two back onto their respective cushions.

The old man nodded approvingly. "S'good, shee, because thish ish gonna be great. Shee, it'sh like a—a whaddyacallit, body partsh jigglin' around, what thoshe ladies were doin'—"

"A dance?" Katara supplied with a tiny sigh. She had moved closer to Aang in order to listen to the old man, and Aang could feel the warmth radiating from her and the slight pressure of her arm against his. The faint scent of her perfume wafted toward him, adding to the torment. He held himself rigidly and prayed that nobody would notice the blush rising in his face.

"That'sh it, missy! A danshe! A visual spec—speta—show. Shee? It starts with mushic."

The trio grew aware of a sudden hush. The rhythmic beat of a drum rolled through the silence, followed by the golden tones of a _gamelan_. Li Mei moved first, shifting her body into a stance and sweeping her arms up. The flames in the lamps streamed through the air above their heads and gathered around her hands, merging into several bright gold rings that spun through the air so quickly they left glowing after-images in the darkness. The drum beat quickened, which served as a cue for Hiro and Kenji. Moving in perfect unison, the two boys went into their own stances and punched their fists upward. Light exploded at their feet and two smooth stones of varying colors—green with streaks of white and brown with swirls of cream—floated upward from the velvet folds, radiating a milky light that swirled and rippled through the darkness until the room seemed immersed in lake of cool luminescence. The light seemed to flow through Aang as well, pooling in his stomach and lapping outward into his limbs, and judging from Katara's soft gasp, he wasn't the only one feeling it. Li Mei and the boys moved through their stances in time with the rhythm, and the glowing stones seemed to grow in size as they hung in mid-air, while the rings of fire spun around them, forming an aerial golden chain for the gemstones.

"Agate, shee?" the old man said. "Protective shtone, that'un. Good for shtomach trouble."

"Is that what it is?" Aang rubbed his stomach and looked over at Katara, whose face mirrored the wonder he felt.

She grinned at him, her hand also moving against her middle. "It feels so soothing, doesn't it?"

The light from the agates faded as the two young earthbenders sent the stones back into the velvet pouches. As the rhythm shifted again, the rings of fire broke and reformed themselves into blazing ribbons that undulated slowly through the air. Pearly white and golden waves radiated from the two new gemstones now levitating between the two earthbenders, growing brighter until the waves took on the appearance of a rolling landscape of golden hills beneath a creamy sky. The ribbons of fire twirled sinuously around the pulsing gemstones and rippled in time with the music. As the eerily beautiful landscape surrounded him, Aang felt his body relax and his mind start to drift off into a pleasant, dream-like state. Beside him, Katara sighed and swayed a little, while Sokka sat with his eyes half-closed and smiled distantly at nothing, although that could have just been the wine.

"Chalcedony. Canyon jashper to you," the old man said helpfully "Jashper'sh good for relaxation and relievin' shtress, that kind of thing."

The two earthbenders sent the jaspers back into the velvet bed while Li Mei bended the ribbons of flame into a whole new form. The drum and the _gamelan_ continued to play as the audience was treated to fantastic displays from a pair of bloodstones streaked with crimson and green, golden-brown tiger's eyes with their flashes of white, and opals that produced pastel-hued sparks, with Li Mei's fire designs serving as a bright mounting for the array of floating jewelry. When a _dizi_ pipe added its lilting melody, the fire reformed itself into a pair of blazing pillars, while the two earthbenders created a swirling cascade of colors with the energies from tourmalines and beryls of every shade imaginable. By the end of the multicolored display, Aang and Katara were clapping enthusiastically while Sokka whooped and yelled and banged his cup on the table.

"Isn't this amazing?" Katara exclaimed to her companions. "It's like being inside a rainbow."

"Not as amazhing as Li Mei." Sokka pointed at the young goldsmith. "Never sheen a firebender with that kind of control before. Wonder how she'd match up againsht Zhuko." He paused as his brain, or at least those parts of it that weren't pleasantly marinating at the moment, presented him with several scenarios. "Then again, I don't wanna know," he mumbled, grimacing.

"Shh! You're missing the besht part." Sokka's drinking buddy nudged him into silence. The _gamelan_ and the pipe faded away, while the drumbeat took on a low, sensual rhythm that sent vibrations pounding through the floor and right into their bones. Li Mei shifted again and the flame-pillars burst apart into several small fireballs that flew across the room and trailed sparks like a flock of tiny comets. The fireballs wheeled back and forth through the air yet never came close enough to touch anything. Katara flinched reflexively as the fireballs passed overhead, her hands automatically going to her hip where her canteen usually hung, while Sokka squawked and tried to roll away and nearly ended up sprawled flat on his back.

Aang laughed. "Relax, guys. Li Mei's got it all under control. Look."

Sure enough, the fireballs soon ceased their chaotic flight and gathered in a loose cloud above the three benders, hovering like a miniature galaxy. As the drumbeat quickened, the two earthbenders moved their hands apart to reveal a pair of small, clear crystals that spun languidly in mid-air. The gems threw brilliant facets of light with each turn, and to Aang's astonishment the stones outshone even the constellation of fireballs. There was a strange sensation, as if all the warmth in his body was being coaxed upward through his spine, and a barely audible hum that swelled and ebbed in time with the spinning of the gems. The gems were calling to him, he realized; to all of them, if the bewildered expressions on his companions were any indication, but there was nothing sinister or disturbing about it. Aang felt the cool energy rush through him, part invitation, part command and all sweetness and innocence and ancient, _ancient_ power.

Beside him, Katara sucked in a breath. "What _are _they?"

"Can't you tell?" The old man's voice was no louder than a reverent whisper. "They're diamonds, o'courshe. Queen o'the gems, the hardest and oldest things on earth. This last dance shows how diamonds were born when earth and starlight met billions of years ago."

"Right. That's really poetic," Sokka snorted, making a valiant effort to hold on to his trademark skepticism in the face of such a display. "Queen of the gems my—hey!" he yelped in surprise when the bands of white stones around his wrists and neck began to shimmer, while the black gems grew impossibly blacker, pulling rays of light into them until they seemed to be shining as brightly as their white counterparts.

Before Aang could react, Katara gasped and reached up to her brow where the tourmaline had begun to pulse as well, bathing her face in pale blue. A flash of gold at his chest distracted him; the topaz was glowing like the splinter of pure sunlight it appeared to be, sending delicious waves of heat through him. The room was once again filled with light and color as every single gemstone upon every single piece of jewelry came to life, answering the call of the diamonds and transforming what had been a perfectly ordinary dining hall into a gathering of stars. Aang closed his eyes and let the energies wash over him, and he suddenly understood what Grandfather Wang had meant about listening to the stones. Each ray was as unique as the gem that produced it, and though lacking voices or words or even recognizable emotions, the thoughts of a hundred elemental fragments imprinted themselves across Aang's consciousness. _We dream of purity_, the stones seemed to whisper. _We dream of light. We dream…we dream…_

Gradually, the light died down and the drum gave its final beat. There were a few seconds of absolute silence as the three benders held their poses, followed by an eruption of cheering that made the audience's reactions to the song and dance number seem positively restrained. With several sweeps of her arms, Li Mei sent the flames back into the lamps, then the trio bowed to more applause. As soon as she straightened, the young firebender darted over to the guests of honor, her face flushed and excited. "Well?" she asked breathlessly. "What do you think?"

Aang could only shake his head. "That was…that was…"

"The most incredible thing we've ever seen," Katara said.

Li Mei beamed. "Oh, I'm so glad you liked it. We only do this demonstration during special occasions. It can be exhausting, you see."

"Really? You don't look tired or anything, Li Mei," Aang said.

"Yeah," Sokka agreed, looking her over with some of the suspicion he'd felt earlier. "Just how good a firebender are you, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm no master, if that's what you're asking. Not even close," Li Mei answered with disarming honesty. "But I'm not the one who's had to charge so many different gemstones one after the other in such a short time. It's the earthbenders who did all the real work, and it just shows how talented Kenji and Hiro are."

As if on cue, Hiro's voice rose above the sounds of laughter and mingled conversation. "Li Mei, we need some help here," he called out from where he and Kenji were crouching over the velvet rolls. "We gotta get this stuff sorted out."

"Hey guys! Nice work!" Aang shouted.

"Yeah, we know!" Kenji yelled back. Hiro grinned and waved.

"I have to go." Li Mei turned to leave, hesitated, then gave Aang a shy, hopeful look. "I-I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Aang grinned lopsidedly. "Sure. We won't be leaving until we've bought the supplies we need for our trip, anyway. Right, Katara?"

"Right!" Katara chirped. "Sure! We'll be around."

Li Mei gave them one last smile before hurrying off to help the boys. As soon as the young firebender was out of hearing range, Sokka's head dropped down upon the table with a thump, sending dishes rattling. "Oh man, I can't believe this," he moaned. "That's it. This party is officially shot."

"What's wrong, Sokka?"

"That bending demonstration, Aang. That's what's wrong."

"How can you say that?" Katara demanded. "That was the most amazing—"

Sokka raised his head to roll his eyes at his sister. "I heard you the first time. Yeah, it was great, but that last part with the diamonds cleared all the wine out of me. Walking out of here stone-cold sober is not my idea of a perfect ending to this party." The older boy eyed his empty cup morosely, sighed, then added as an afterthought: "That was a pun, by the way."

He glanced sideways to check if his audience appreciated his little witticism, only to have his head nearly shoved back down onto the table by the sudden weight of an arm on his shoulders. "Not to worry, my boy!" his drinking buddy informed him. "We always prepare for the side effects of the demonstration, see?" The old man waved his arm toward the approaching serving girls or, more specifically, to the forest of wine jars balanced upon each girl's tray.

A huge grin spread across Sokka's features. "I knew there was a reason why I like this place."

"A toast to Tai Shen earthbending techniques!"

"Yeah! And to getting smashed all over again!"

"Wait a minute, boy, that's two toasts."

"And your point is?"

"Ohoho, darned right! Grab that other bottle, will you? Bottoms up, everyone!"

Aang, who was watching them with a mixture of concern and amusement, nearly jumped when he felt the light touch of a hand against his. "Forget it, Aang," Katara said with a shake of her head. "He's lost to us."

He opened his mouth to reply, and only then noticed the pair that was bearing down on their table wearing purposeful expressions that sent shivers down his spine. "Uh oh," he muttered, hunching his shoulders in a futile attempt to conceal himself. To his relief, the two girls he only knew as Mrs. Mok's daughters walked right past him to kneel on either side of Sokka.

One of them twirled a lock of hair around her finger and giggled while her sister tapped the older boy on his shoulder and smiled flirtatiously into Sokka's startled face. "Hi there, cutie. I'm Ling and this is my sister Ming. You know, ever since you dropped by our house today, we've been dying to get to know you better."

"Mm-hm." The sister named Ming batted her lashes. "It's sooo nice to see a big, strong warrior here in town again, isn't it, Ling?"

"Oh yes," Ling sighed. "Mother was ever so pleased to find someone with your…prospects. Imagine, having a famous hero and companion of the Avatar here with us."

Aang straightened, morbid curiosity winning over new-found protective instincts, and even Katara peered around him, her eyes glistening with suppressed laughter. Sokka looked from one sallow-skinned, buck-toothed girl to the other, downed two cups of wine in succession, then squinted at the sisters again. "Nope, it'sh not working," he finally said. "Sorry, ladiesh. Why don't you come back later when I'm drunk enough?"

Ling scowled and shoved him away, but Ming had already lost interest in Sokka's prospects. To Aang's dismay, she was looking straight at _him_. "Forget about him, Ling," she said. "Why settle for a companion when we've got the Avatar himself right here?"

Aang gulped. "Uh, the Avatar? Where?" He craned his neck this way and that as though his survival depended on his locating some other Avatar somewhere in the vicinity. He kept this up until the two girls were practically leaning up against him, hampering his movements. "Oh, I guess you mean this Avatar," he said with a nervous laugh.

"That's right, ladiesh!" Sokka crowed with what Aang thought was an unnecessary amount of relish. "When it comesh to eligible bachelorsh, you can't find anyone more eligible than the Avatar, although I'm not so sure about _his_ prospectsh."

"What?! Sokka!" Aang glared at the older boy.

"Hmm, you're right, Ming." Ling tapped a nail against her front teeth while Aang shrank away from her calculating gaze. "He's a bit young but he's really cute. And strong, too. It's just too bad he was raised as a monk."

"Well, we can't all have princes, can we, Ling? Me, I'd take the savior of the world any old day," Ming trilled. "Oooh, you're making such a weird face, Aang. Aren't you enjoying yourself?"

"I, uh—"

"This party is turning so boring, isn't it?"

"Not really, I—"

"Wouldn't you like to get away from all this?" Ling purred. "You could come with us on a moonlit stroll out in the gardens. The bridge is such a romantic place to—"

The sharp sound of snapping wood made the sisters turn toward Katara, who met their annoyed glares with a smile that could have cut glass. "Actually, Aang's already promised me a walk on the bridge," she said. "Didn't you, Aang?"

"I did?" She aimed her smile at him and he cringed. "Oh, right, I did. I can't believe I forgot," he mumbled, rubbing his head sheepishly. "Excuse me, ladies. I believe I have a prior engagement." He shook the sisters off him and stood up, leaving the girls to gape at him in shock. In a show of gallantry, he bowed and offered his hand to Katara. "Shall we be off then, Miss Katara?"

She glanced at his hand, then up at him. Several emotions chased one another in her wide ice-blue eyes before finally settling on understanding and humor. She placed her hand in his, and he blinked at the sight of her broken chopsticks lying upon the table. "Certainly, Avatar Aang," she said as she stood up. "I'd be honored—ow!"

Her knees buckled and Aang caught her as she fell forward, his arms wrapping reflexively around her waist so that she ended up leaning against him with her face pressed against his chest. There was a collective gasp and for a moment, the two of them froze in that position. Aang thought he could feel her face warming right through his shirt, which was only rivaled by the heat of his own blush. "Are you okay?" he asked, trying to keep his face, with its damning tinge of red, averted.

"Yeah. Sorry. My legs have fallen asleep." She winced as she pushed herself upright and attempted to stand up on her own. "Ouch. I'll be fine in a few—hey!" she yelped when he suddenly scooped her up and strode toward the doorway. "What're you doing? Aang, put me down, I can walk. Aang!"

She started to laugh as they exited the dining hall, and to Aang's delight, her arms slipped around his neck despite her stream of protests. When he got to the bridge, he set her down, waited until she regained her balance, then swept low in a courtly bow. "Well, Miss Katara? How did you like your carriage ride?"

Katara pretended to think about it. "It could use some sort of warning system, but it wasn't bad." She peeked at him sideways, then broke into another fit of giggling. "Well, I suppose that's one way to leave a party," she conceded, dabbing at the corner of her eye.

They walked across the bridge, gazing at their surroundings. The boisterous cacophony of voices and music and clinking china faded into the background, giving way to the steady chirping of a cricket and the occasional plop of a frog diving from a lily pad into the pond. There were other people out in the gardens; two or three couples were sitting underneath the trees or in the pagodas, but he and Katara were the only two people on the bridge. As far as Aang was concerned, they could have been the only two people in the world.

He watched as Katara walked on ahead, her head turning this way and that as she gazed at the glowing globes above them and their rippling counterparts on the surface of the pond. She tilted her head up, shading her eyes against the light of the lanterns. Following her gaze toward the perfect half-moon drifting among wisps of cloud, he smiled and wondered if she was thinking about a waterbender's special connection with the moon. And wondered, too, if he hadn't been infected by some sort of moon-induced sickness himself. A strange restlessness filled him, making his head spin with thoughts he'd have only been half-aware of at any other time. He felt like running, jumping, zipping across the rooftops or soaring through the air—his heart was certainly beating fast enough as it was—but at the same time he felt as though he could have spent forever just standing there on that bridge and watching her. If that wasn't lunacy, he didn't know what was.

_What are you waiting for?_ a voice in his head whispered. _You've got everything you need. The mood, the setting…Go on and do it. Tell her._

He frowned down at his feet. _No. You heard her. She doesn't feel the same way. _

_Just tell her. _

_I can't. _

_Go on. _

He narrowed his eyes. That voice was right, whatever it was. He'd be lucky to find a more perfect moment than this. He raised his hand to grasp the topaz pendant at his chest. _The stone of hope, huh? Okay, here goes nothing_.

"Aang?"

He looked up to find Katara standing right in front of him. "You're so quiet. I wondered what you were thinking."

He smiled, and her blue eyes flickered with surprise—and something else. "You want to know what I was thinking, Katara?" he asked softly. "Okay, I'll tell you."

o – o – o – o – o

Katara stared at Aang, wondering if she heard him right.

"A _fountain_?"

Aang grinned. "Yeah! It's the only thing missing from this place. Here, watch this."

He swept past her, his body moving effortlessly into the swift, fluid form of a waterbender. Streams of water jetted up from the pond on either side of the pond and arched through the air into the opposite side, forming a sparkling archway over the bridge. He spun around with a flourish when he reached the end of the bridge, prompting the other people who had been enjoying the relative quiet of the gardens to break into appreciative applause.

Aang's grin grew even wider. "So, did you like the effect?"

Katara blinked a couple of times as her mind adjusted to the abrupt shift in the conversation. The disappointment was something she'd been expecting; in fact, she'd spent practically the entire evening bracing herself for the coming end to her fantasy. But when he'd looked at her just then, his gray eyes filled with such warmth, and given her that slow, melting smile…she found she wasn't quite prepared for the actual flare of hurt she felt at the inevitable let-down. After all the countless hints she'd been picking up all night, the hundred little warnings for her not to lose her head to the crazy swirl of emotions that had been twisting her up ever since she saw him tonight, she still couldn't quench the tiny spark of hope every time he so much as glanced in her direction. The fact that she'd expected that too wasn't much help.

She really ought to know better. She was supposed to be the responsible one, the one who believed in the path of discipline. She had to be realistic. What she felt for Aang had nothing at all to do with their situation; just because something inside her was different didn't mean that anything else had to be. She was a waterbender, one who commanded the element of change. She could handle this.

"Katara? You're the quiet one now."

She shook her head. "Just thinking, Aang. This place is pretty fancy. You'd probably need a fountain that was a bit more…impressive." With that, she shifted her weight and raised her arms, drawing two large water-snakes from either side of the bridge. In a series of moves that resembled a dance more than a waterbending form, she bended the water-snakes over and under the length of the bridge again and again. When she reached his side, she released the water and gave him one of her teacher-looks while their audience applauded even more loudly. "Do you understand now, Pupil Aang?"

"Wow, I see your point." He nodded toward their audience. "What do you say we give them a _real_ waterbending demonstration?"

The two of them spent the next few minutes bending water over, under, sideways and all around the bridge in a kind of aerial water display, to which Katara added a few ice sculptures as well, while their audience "oohed" and clapped enthusiastically. Finally, they were back to back in the middle of the bridge, moving in a circle as they bended water-snakes into double and triple figure-eights. Katara laughed, reveling in the sheer joy of bending, and when she felt him brush against her back, she glanced over her shoulder at him, only to find him gazing right back at her. Their eyes met and held and the world was spinning and spinning, and everything was full of light and music and silvery streams of water dancing past and gray eyes in a face marked by an arrow-shaped tattoo, warm gray eyes and a tender smile…

She stopped abruptly, flicking the water back into the pond, barely aware of the sounds of cheering from the audience. With a puzzled look, Aang followed suit. She propped her elbows against the railing, bent her head and took a deep breath, trying to get her pulse rate to down to a decent pace. "I was getting dizzy," she explained when she felt the weight of his stare upon her.

He nodded and stood beside her, turning to gaze up at the sky, and Katara felt her heart give a funny little flip. It was one of the things she treasured most of all: how their moments of stillness could be so companionable, even comforting, each one trusting in the other's complete understanding. "I haven't thanked you yet for catching me when I fell," she said after a while.

"It's okay. I owe you for rescuing me from those girls, anyway. They were kind of scary."

She smothered a laugh at the image of the Avatar fleeing in a panic from a couple of romantically-inclined girls. "You should start getting used to it, Aang. Being the Avatar is going to draw all kinds of attention to you, and it's not always going to be the bad kind."

He shot her a comical look of disbelief. "You mean, that was a _good_ kind of attention?"

"Well no, not exactly," she admitted, then shrugged. "At least they thought you were cute. That's better than getting shot at all the time. What? What was that look for?" she asked, peering at him.

"Nothing," he said, staring down into the water. "So we're going on a market trip tomorrow, huh?"

She considered calling him out on his unsubtle attempt to change the subject, then decided against it. "Yeah. We're running low on food supplies. I just didn't want to tell Sokka and have to deal with all his pain and anguish."

A quiet snicker escaped him, then he pushed back from the railing and exhaled. "Jin's right, you know," he said, turning toward her, his gray eyes dark with some unnamed emotion.

She blinked. "He is?"

"You're beautiful, Katara," he said softly.

Her mouth fell open, and heat flooded her face. The words of thanks, the good-natured quip that would have steered them back into safe waters, died in her throat. All of a sudden she felt as though she were two people, one of whom was standing not far away watching everything—watching her lips part in a wobbly smile, watching her face tilt toward Aang and lean forward to close the space between them inch by breathless inch—or was it Aang who was leaning forward with eyes half-closed? She didn't know anymore. All she knew was that she wanted this. She wanted what was happening. She wanted to kiss him, to kiss Aang…

_I definitely wouldn't want to kiss _you

The memory shot through the haze in her mind like an arrow of ice. She jerked her head aside and dropped her gaze, caught in a flood of mortification. What was she doing? She had no excuses now, no life-or-death situation to justify her actions. This wasn't Aang. This was…this was moonlight and madness and her own feelings for him getting the better of her and oh, so many other things he wouldn't understand. He was all of twelve years old, raised by monks and burdened by a terrible responsibility, and she had no right to take advantage of him like this—

"Katara?" he said, sounding so small and uncertain that she forgot about the hopeless muddle she'd made. She glanced at him wildly, every instinct driving her to ease his hurt. _No! It's not what you think_, she wanted to tell him. But the words never made it past her lips.

He was looking past her toward the dining hall. Confused, she turned and found Li Mei standing a few feet away, her hands twisting together inside her sleeves, wide amber eyes shifting from Aang to her and back again. "I'm sorry, Aang, Katara," the young firebender said in a tiny voice. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I've been calling you for some time now—"

"What is it, Li Mei?" Aang stepped around Katara, every inch the capable young Avatar, and for a moment Katara wondered if she'd only imagined the events of the past few minutes. Like that would have been so surprising, she thought with a flash of bitter humor. After all, it was common knowledge that her particular affliction included temporary bouts of insanity.

Aang and Li Mei were speaking together, and it took Katara a few seconds to figure out what they were talking about. Something about the party ending and some final tradition and—Sokka? She sighed wearily. What idiotic thing had her brother done now?

_Whatever it is_, a voice in her head whispered back, _it can't be any worse than what _you've_ done._

"Katara, come on." She blinked and found both Aang and Li Mei standing half-way toward the door and looking back at her expectantly. "We need to get back inside. Li Mei says the guests of honor have to leave before anybody else can. They're waiting for us to officially end the party," he said with a small shrug that indicated he was just as baffled with the practice as she was.

She closed her eyes. "I'm coming."

As she reached them Li Mei gave her an indefinable look, to which she responded with a smile that betrayed none of the regret and sense of loss she felt. Her fantasy was ending, just as she'd known it would. As she glanced at Aang, who stared straight ahead and smiled at the other partygoers who welcomed them back without once meeting her eyes, she realized that some part of her had known that this would happen, too.

And if her eyes were stinging with tears for the second time that night, then she would just have to deal with that, too.

o – o – o – o – o

Sokka lay sprawled on his back under the table with his legs sticking out the other side, an obviously soused Momo draped across his chest. His eyes were open and he was grinning, and that was about all that could be said about his grip on reality at the moment. He was waving both arms in the air, his wine cup still held loosely in one hand, and appeared to be completely engrossed in serenading the ceiling lamps with a lusty, albeit off-key, rendition of a familiar journey song.

"_Don't fall'n luuuve with a trav'lin girrrl!_" he belted out happily. "_She'll leeeave you…_uh_, she'll leeeave you_…c'mon, Momo help me out. Whuzza nexht line?" Momo chirruped sleepily and hiccupped, causing Sokka to halt his arm-waving long enough to contemplate matters. "Y'think sho? Mm, makesh shenshe, I sh'poshe…_She'll leeeave you, _uh_, a couple 'a nutsh and a melon riiiind_—"

Katara stared down at her brother, who reeked so much of alcohol she could practically see it. With a sigh, she bent down beside him and shook his shoulder. "Sokka, come on, the party's over. We have to go. Sokka? Can you even hear me?"

Sokka's eyeballs swiveled around until they managed to locate her. "Hey, li'l shishter, where ya been? Shtick around, you're misshing a grrrreat party."

"It's over, Sokka," she repeated, tugging at her brother's shoulders. "Everybody's waiting for us to leave so they can go home. Now come on, you have to get up."

"Nah, that'sh imposshible. I mean, lookit him. _He'sh _rarin' t' go." He pointed at his drinking buddy, who was slumped down upon the table and snoring loudly. "Y'shee that? What a party an'mal. Hey, where'sh Aang?" he suddenly asked, then elbowed his sister clumsily before she could reply. "Y'know, y'gotta shart keepin' an eye on that kid, K'tara. I shaw 'im moshey out into the gardensh with a _girl_ a while back. Hah! I _thought _that kid 'uz good. Musht've been pickin' up on my techniquesh or shomethin'. "

Katara, who had wedged her knees underneath his back in order to pull him to his feet, seriously considered dumping him back onto the floor and leaving him to his own devices. She was spared from having to inform Sokka that he was spending the rest of the night in his current lodgings by Aang's appearance at her side. "I'm right here, Sokka," he said tightly, his expression clearly unamused as he regarded the older boy. "I told you to take it easy on the wine."

With a low sweep of his arms, he airbended the table a few feet upward on an air current so steady the empty jars clustered upon it barely even wobbled. With her brother released from the loving embrace of the dining hall's furniture, Katara hauled Sokka up and slung his arm across her shoulders. Aang replaced the table, caught Momo as he slid off Sokka's chest then took hold of Sokka's other arm, and together they steered him to the doorway where Grandma Sorab was waiting with Grandfather Wang and Li Mei.

Grandma Sorab, looking as sparklingly elegant as the minute she arrived, smiled and bowed low. "Thank you, Avatar and companions, for honoring us with your presence tonight."

"Hmph," Grandfather Wang grunted, glowering down at the floor.

"The honor is all ours, Grandma Sorab," Aang replied, returning the bow as best he could. "We had a great time tonight. You guys sure know how to throw a party."

"Yes, thank you," Katara said. "It was wonderful."

Sokka nodded so hard his chin bounced against his chest. "Yeah! An' that danshing platypush-bear 'uz incrrredible! How'd y'get it to wear that pink kimono, anyway?"

He was met with several puzzled stares, to which he was blissflully oblivious. "What my brother wants to say is that he really enjoyed your wine," Katara said hastily.

"Hmph," Grandfather Wang said.

"Uh, will you be all right, Grandma Sorab? Getting home, I mean," Aang asked.

"Yes," Grandma Sorab replied. "My ride is waiting outside."

"What about you, Li Mei?" Aang addressed the young firebender. An odd silence followed, and Katara looked across Sokka's sappily grinning face to find the young Avatar's gaze fixed upon Li Mei, his brows furrowed slightly. When Li Mei blushed and looked down at her feet, Aang seemed to realize he'd been staring at her and his own cheeks flushed a little, and for the second time in the span of ten minutes Katara felt like throwing somebody down on the floor and stalking off. "Will you and your grandfather be okay?" Aang went on.

"Yes, we'll be fine," Li Mei answered shyly. "Thank you for asking."

"Hmph."

Katara glanced at the old man. "_You're _handling the wine pretty well, Grandfather Wang," she observed.

Grandfather Wang raised his head and glared at her. "Mrflgl," he said, then slowly, majestically fell over backward. He was snoring even before the thud of his body hitting the floor had died away.

Katara and Aang gaped down at the old man, while Grandma Sorab sighed. "No cause for worry. My fiancé and Li Mei will get home safe and sound. Kenji dear, go bring Killer round and escort Li Mei and Wang to their house. Kenji?"

"Aw, man, do I have to?" Kenji emerged from somewhere behind his grandmother, looking half-asleep himself. Grandma Sorab gave him a look that was apparently the equivalent of ten pots of tea and a helpful prod from a very sharp spear besides, judging from the way Kenji snapped up straight, the faint alcoholic flush draining away from his face. "Yes, Ma'am! Right away, Ma'am! Come on, Li Mei." He hoisted the old man up and half-carried, half-dragged him away, giving Li Mei only enough time to cast a last apologetic look at Aang and Katara.

"What about you, Aang, Katara?" Grandma Sorab asked. "I would be glad to give you a ride."

"Thanks, but we already have a ride," Aang replied with a smile. He pulled the bison whistle out of his pocket and blew on it. Five minutes later, Appa's large, white form flew overhead like a particularly brisk cloud. "Meet us at the gate, Appa," Aang called, and Appa rumbled in reply.

They were escorted across the bridge by an honor-guard of partygoers who were still able to keep themselves upright, staggering a bit when Sokka insisted on demonstrating some of the kimono-clad platypus-bear's best moves. Outside in the street, Appa loomed patiently over the cluster of ostrich-horse-drawn rickshaws. Aang airlifted Sokka up onto Appa's back before taking his place at the reins, although the older boy barely registered the change in position as he moved on to the next number in his impromptu concert. One hand carefully gripping the skirt of her gown and her silver wrap, Katara pulled herself up Appa's flank and gave the bison a grateful pat when he boosted her up with his leg. She settled down across Sokka, aware that neither she nor Aang had spoken to each other since they returned from the gardens. The awkward silence between her and the young Avatar unsettled her with its unfamiliarity alone.

"Party's over, Appa," Aang said. "Yip-yip!"

"Wow, lookit that moon," Sokka sighed as his head lolled back on his shoulders. "Princessh Yue shure looksh pretty tonight, huh? She'sh sho…sho…" His face clouded over. "Don't wanna talk about it anymore," he muttered.

"It's all right, Sokka. You don't have to," Katara said soothingly, feeling a pang go through her at the loss her brother had suffered.

"It'sh jusht that it'sh crazhy, y'know?" Sokka went on, obviously well on his way toward the melancholy stage of inebriation. "Here you are jusht shtartin' to get t'know each other then—bam! She turnsh into the moon. An' I thought we had problemsh when she wuz jusht a _princessh_."

Fortunately for all three of them, the short flight back to the honeymoon house ended before Sokka's rant could gather enough steam, with Appa obligingly touching down in the garden behind the tiny house. Aang dropped the reins and climbed into the saddle. "I'll take him, Katara," he said quietly as he slung Sokka's arm across his shoulder.

"Thanks," she murmured, moving aside to give Aang room to manuever. She slid down Appa's flank and followed the boys into the house, felt for the matches upon the cabinet and lit the lamp, then blinked. Although the pots of crystals still adorned every corner of the house, glowing softly in the lamp light, the large, fluffy sleeping rug had been rolled up and stuffed against the wall, with their familiar sleeping rolls taking their places on the floor instead. A makeshift screen in the form of a length of string and a blanket hung over it had even been erected in another corner. The changes served to make the place look slightly less suggestive.

"Sokka said he'd do some redecorating," Aang explained as he helped the older boy onto his sleeping roll.

"He even took down the paintings," Katara commented, noting the empty spots on the walls.

"Yeah. I wonder why. They just looked like drawings of trees and flowers to me," Aang said with a shrug.

Katara looked at him, opened her mouth, then closed it again. Somebody would have to explain things to the young Avatar someday, but it wasn't going to be tonight and it certainly wasn't going to be her. She knelt upon her sleeping roll and was glad to see her own blue robes folded neatly beside her pack. Even Aang's and Sokka's clothes had been returned. Holding her clothes in her arms, she crawled over to her brother and presented her back to him. "Sokka, can you undo my buttons? Just the top ones then I'll do the rest."

A loud, rasping snore answered her; Sokka lay slumbering in the same position Aang had left him, a faint line of drool trickling down one corner of his mouth. Momo was sprawled out on the floor beside him, snoring nearly as loudly. Katara regarded her brother with a sinking heart, wondering illogically how he could have abandoned her at such a crucial time. There was no other way around it; she simply couldn't manage this gown all by herself. "Um, Aang?" she began, feeling the beginnings of a blush creep up her face.

"Mmph?" Aang said, his voice muffled as he shrugged out of the gray silk shirt, leaving him dressed in just his pants and the topaz pendant, which glinted like a flame against his pale skin. "What is it, Katara?"

Katara stared at him, aghast. Oh spirits, was everything conspiring against her? Then she mentally slapped herself for entertaining these ridiculous and highly improbable thoughts. She was definitely not acting like herself. _This darned house…_ "Could you undo my buttons for me? Just the ones I can't reach," she said, relieved at the calm, business-like tone of her voice.

His gray eyes went wide, and for some reason his gaze strayed toward one of the nearby crystal pots. "Me?" he croaked. "Uh, sure."

"Thanks." She turned around and swept her hair out of the way. When she felt the light, gentle touch of his fingers at the nape of her neck, she suddenly found a pressing need to do something with her hands and settled for taking her filigree silver jewelry off. It only took him a couple of minutes to undo the first of the tiny frog buttons of her gown, but it felt like years before he moved down to the second button. _His hands are so warm_, came the stray thought, and she huffed silently in annoyance. "Sorry about this," she said, her voice sounding almost jarringly loud. "Li Mei did my buttons for me, and it took her a while, too. The loops are a bit tight, I think."

"They're not too difficult," he said, and _his_ voice was low and oddly hushed. He moved on to the third button, and Katara sent a prayer of thanks to the gods that she was wearing her chest bindings underneath the gown. She cast about for something else to say but came up empty, her mind too preoccupied by the situation. Fortunately, he made quick work of the next couple of buttons then retreated to a safe distance, a fact that made her feel both relieved and sorry.

"Thanks," she said again, turning around to face him. He was kneeling a couple of feet away and staring silently at her, his gray eyes soft and dark and filled with a yearning vulnerability, and Katara found herself wondering if he was aware how close he was to baring his soul to her—and wondering too if she would have the courage to look if he did. She almost gave in to the desire to touch him, but common sense prevailed and she broke away from his stare instead. "Um, I need to get dressed."

"I need to go check on Appa," he said at the same time, rising to his feet. They paused and blinked at each other, then broke into muffled laughter. And just like that, the strange tension between them melted away and they were friends again. No, more than that, Katara thought fondly. Best friends, always.

"I'm going outside for a bit," he informed her as he snatched up his clothes and headed for the door. "By the way, whatever you do, don't touch those crystals in the pots."

"Why?" she asked, puzzled.

He winced. "Kenji told me they had this weird effect on—on people."

Katara glared suspiciously at the crystals. She had a good idea what those weird effects were, and she really wasn't interested in exploring said effects any further. Or at least, any further than she already had. _This darned house…_ "I won't," she promised with utmost sincerity.

She followed him out into the garden several minutes later, dressed once again in her blue water-tribe robes, her dark hair hanging loose. He was also dressed in his usual orange and saffron clothing, and was speaking to Appa and feeding him food he produced from a small sack. "Hey, where'd you get the doggy bag?" she asked curiously as she approached him.

He smiled. "From Li Mei. She said it wasn't fair for Appa to get left out of the party just because he was too big to fit in the dining hall, so she gave me this bag of treats for him. They're good, aren't they, boy? Li Mei made them herself," he said to Appa, who merely opened his mouth for more. "She really thought of everything, didn't she?" he added admiringly.

_Yeah, she's perfect,_ Katara thought with dark sarcasm, and immediately felt guilty. Li Mei had taken them in and given them food and lent her clothes and jewelry. She had been nothing but sweet and generous and kind, and Katara was being mean and petty and irrational. "Nice of her to think about Appa," she said, partly as a penance for her nastiness.

Fortunately, Aang didn't seem to notice her lack of enthusiasm. "Yeah, it was," he said. "I still can't believe how good a firebender she is. And Kenji and Hiro were great, too. It's too bad I don't have time to study Tai Shen-style earthbending. Maybe after this whole war with the Fire Nation is over, we could come back here to visit or something."

"I think that's a good idea," said Katara, who didn't, really.

Aang fed Appa the last of the treats, then dusted his clothing. "Not that I didn't have fun getting all dressed up in a fancy outfit, but boy am I glad to be back in my own clothes. I finally feel like myself again."

"I know what you mean," Katara said wistfully, thinking about evening-and-starlight gowns and silver bands, moonlight and madness. "This whole evening felt like a dream."

"It _was_ a dream," Aang said quietly.

She stared at him, wondering at the hint of sadness she heard in his voice, but when she opened her mouth to ask him, she ended up yawning instead. "I think I'll turn in. What about you?"

"You go ahead. Good night, Katara."

"Good night, Aang." On impulse, she drew closer and kissed his cheek, her lips lingering a little longer than she'd intended. She spun around and walked away quickly before he could see the blush on her face. After tucking Sokka in as best she could, she slid into her sleeping roll and was asleep almost immediately, her body finally feeling the strain of the entire day. She woke up a little when she heard Aang moving around before lying down on his roll, then she turned on her side and drifted off, smiling contentedly.

o – o – o – o – o

She didn't know what exactly woke her up. There must have been something—a noise, a muffled gasp, a change in the air currents. All at once, she was wide awake and tense, blinking in the semi-darkness.

_Aang_, she thought and sat up.

He was sitting up as well with his head hunched over his knees, struggling to get his breathing under control. His upper body was bare and glistening with sweat, but despite that he was shivering. He noticed her movements and looked at her, his gray eyes full of pain and lingering fear.

"The nightmare again?" she asked softly, her heart aching for him. When he didn't answer, she reached out and took his hand in hers. "It might help if you talk about it."

He dropped his gaze. "It's the same dream. The Fire Lord and I—we were fighting and…everything was on fire, and I—I couldn't control it. I destroyed everything, and I killed—"

He stopped and drew in a shaky breath. _Killed—?_ Katara thought, feeling a chill run through her. "Aang, did you hurt anyone in your dream? Anyone you knew?" she asked as carefully as she could. "Did you burn anyone?"

He stood up abruptly. "Go to sleep, Katara," he said in perfectly controlled tones, without a single glance at her. "I'll be okay. I just need to be alone for a while."

She watched him as he slipped out of the house, then slowly lay back down and stared sightlessly at the ceiling. What would it take for the nightmare to leave him alone? His guilt and insecurity were eating at him, and it cut her to know that all she could do was sit and watch helplessly as he struggled with his demons all alone.

It wasn't fair. Especially since it was partly her fault.

He dreamed he lost control and killed someone. Someone he knew and cared for, or else it wouldn't be tearing him up as badly as this. And he was supposed in the Avatar state when it happened. She recalled all the times she had seen him slip into his Avatar state and the circumstances involved: when he'd discovered his beloved mentor's corpse in the ruins of the Southern Air Temple, when he was possessed by the Spirit of the Ocean in the midst of the siege of the North Pole, and—and when he thought she'd been killed by that psycho general.

He dreamed of fire and murder, of losing control and complete destruction. And he dreamed he'd killed _her_. Because he hadn't forgiven himself for burning her.

_I can help him get through this_, she thought resolutely. _I just need to figure out how_.

When Aang came back, she was lying on her side again, eyes closed and breathing evenly. She sensed him watching her, felt the gentle brush of his fingers as he pushed a lock of her hair off her face. "I'm sorry, Katara," she heard him whisper, before he turned away. Long after he'd fallen asleep, she was still awake and making plans. She didn't like what she was about to do, but then who said she had to? Aang and his peace of mind were all that mattered.

The last thing she thought, before she finally succumbed to the pull of sleep, was how unbearably smug Sokka would be when he learned that, even when he was drunk as a stoat, he still managed to come up with the best ideas in the group.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Um, okay. Have I already said how sorry I am this is late? Oh right, I did. Excuses? Won't make any, except for maybe truly lousy time management on my part. I've been trying to deal with that for so long, it's practically the story of my life.

I hope that despite the length and the centuries it took for this to appear you guys still enjoyed it. I regret not being able to write Toph in this, but I have to stick with the parameters I've set if I want to keep the story under control--hence its near-total AU state. Also, a note about diamonds: Don't believe all those ads you see about diamonds being rare. The colored diamonds, like yellow and blue diamonds, now those are rare, but the clear ones? There are other stones once considered "semi-precious" that are harder to find than them babies.

The most incredible thing about this fic, though, is how you guys still read and reviewed--and hounded me about updates. It was, I confess, touching. And I especially thank you, Liselle129 (whose great new Kataang fic I keep reading just to keep me sane at work and who, I am so glad to learn, also think that Aang is sexy earthbending) for checking up on me and figuratively feeling for my pulse (I LOVE YOUR FIC!), SnakeEyes for the concern and the spoilers (THANKS! I've seen the eps, and they're as great as you described them), and Kalluwen, who's working on his own fic. And thank you, thank you, thank you too to you guys: Nyrick, Kumori Doragon, Kaika-sama, pokey, kataang93, Vegeta247, nadine-firefeather, daydreamr'girl (whose review I have printed out and stuck in my wallet for good luck), Katja Harper, ConfusionIsTheWorstPain, Flash, Danette LaBrie, SilvrImage, Dirty Thoughts of Bliss, ScatterdParchment, Jini, myWings510, and niah1988 and everyone else.

Am working on the next chapter now, which will push the plot onward. Again, thank you so much for still reading and reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed this part.


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